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This is a guide for teachers and learners to

Minibridge from the very basics of the game.

Vu-Bridge Starter kit Minibridge in 11 Chapters

Paul Bowyer

Minibridge lesson notes Page 1

Introduction. Minibridge as a game was invented in the early 1990s by the Dutch bridge federation as a method of introducing the game of bridge in an easy way. Other bridge federations (notably the English Bridge Union) have adopted these ideas with thanks. Before we start with Minibridge, though, we really ought to look at the two ideas that underpin all games based on whist, that is: tricks and trumps.

Tricks and trumps

The ranking of the cards in each of the four suits ([, ], {, }) is the same:

The two is the lowest card, then the 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace.

All games in the whist family (and that includes bridge and Minibridge) use the principle of tricks and trumps.

A trick. A trick is a collection of cards containing one card from each player, usually played into the centre. Tricks are always played clockwise. Except when a trump has been played, a trick is won by the highest card belonging to the suit that was led – that is, to the same suit as the first card played in that trick. In all cases in all whist-based game the primary rule for all players is to follow suit – ie play a card of the suit led.

The player who wins a trick leads to the next one.

Here we see a typical trick. One of the four players has led a card – let us say the player sitting with the [8. The next

three players have, in turn, followed suit with the [J, the [K and the [6.

The highest card here is the [K so that

player wins the trick – the four cards are gathered in and given to that player. In a partnership game the trick may be kept by either partner.

Here we see another example of a trick. This time a Club was led – the }3. The

next two players followed suit but the last player had no Clubs left. When a player cannot follow suit he may play any card. However, here the trick is won by the player who contributed the }10. The fact

that the [Q is the highest ranked card in

this example trick is irrelevant. “A trick is won by the highest card belonging to the suit that was led”


Trumps and the trumps suit. A trump is any card belonging to the trump suit. The trump suit is determined before each hand is played and may be any of the four suits. How a trump suit is determined is a topic for another time and place – each card game may have its own way of setting trumps. You will see how trumps are determined in Minibridge later. A trump card beats any card belonging to the suit led. You may only play a trump if you are unable to follow suit. If two (or more) players are unable to follow suit one might overtrump the other. The highest ranked card in the whole pack is the Ace of trumps.

Note that it is perfectly fair (indeed, sensible) to lead trumps if you so wish.

Here, Clubs are trumps. The [8 has been led and doubtless the

player with the [K expected to win the

trick. However, the last player to play has no Spades in his hand and was able to play a trump card. All trumps outrank all “plain cards” (non-trumps) so in this instance the }3 wins

the trick.

In the example to the right it is Spades that are trumps. The }3 has been lead and the next

player, able to follow suit, has played the }10. The third player has no Clubs and

has tried to win the trick by trumping it (also known as ruffing it) with the [4.

However, the last player to play also has no Clubs and he has played a higher trump than the [4 – in this case the [Q.

The trick is won, therefore, by the [Q.


The game of Minibridge.

§1. Introduction to Minibridge.

Minibridge and Contract Bridge are partnership games for four players, based on the game of whist. That means that they are games of tricks and trumps, with play proceeding clockwise around the table. Some deals, however, can be played without any trump suit, in what is called No-trumps. The four players are called North, East, South and West so that North-South are partners against East-West. The table is represented as a diagram in the following way: N

W E

S

A full pack of 52 cards is dealt out so that each player receives a hand of 13 cards. Players should sort their hands out into suits to make things easier for themselves (although the rules don’t say that you have to!) In all bridge books (and newspaper articles) hands are represented in diagrams similar to the following: [ A 9 5 ] K Q 9 { K J 10 } A Q 9 5 Note that the order of the suits is always shown as above: – Clubs are lowest, then Diamonds, then Hearts and the “top” suit is Spades. (If it’s helpful to you then the order is alphabetical going “upwards”). A full deal might look something like this:

[ A 9 5 ] K Q 5

{ K J 10 } A Q 9 5

[ Q 10 6 4 N [ J 8 7 ] 6 4 3

W E ] J 10 9 8 2

{ A 9 8 5 { 4 3 2 } 8 4 S } K 6

[ K 3 2 ] A 7 { Q 7 6 } J 10 7 3 2

After sorting their hands out into suits all players assess their hands according to the following formula:

Every Ace 4 Points

Every King 3 Points

Every Queen 2 Points

Every Jack 1 Point

The North hand above, for example, comes to 19 points:

[ A 9 5 4 points

] K Q 9 5 points

{ K J 10 4 points

} A Q 9 5 6 points

Total: 19 points

In the full deal shown above the distribution of points is as follows:

West North East South

6 19 5 10

Note, in passing, that there are 10 points in each suit and 40 points in the whole pack.


If North had been the dealer then that player would have been the first to announce his hand by saying, “I have 19 points”. Then East, the next player around the table clockwise, would say, “I have 5 points”, then South would say, “I have 10 points” and finally West would say, “I have 6 points”. At this point everyone should use some mental arithmetic to check that the four numbers add up to 40. If they don’t… try counting the points again! The partnership with the most points gains control of the hand and has the privilege of playing the hand. (If each partnership has 20 points the deal is a wash-out and the cards are re-dealt). In the example on the previous page the partnership with the greater number of points is clearly North-South. The player from the stronger partnership with the better hand becomes the declarer and his partner becomes the dummy. (If both players of the stronger partnership have the same number of points the first person to state his points becomes declarer.) In the previous example declarer is North. The partner of declarer (in this instance, South) displays his hand face upwards on the table as dummy. Dummy’s role is to be little more than a robot, following his partner’s instructions. At this stage we will have all hands played without a trump suit (known, logically enough, as No-trumps). Later on this will change. Here, South arranges his hand on the table in columns so it looks a little like this: Although the example above has the suits arranged in the sequence Spades, Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, (black-red-black-red) there is, in fact, no rule that says you have to display the suits in any particular order. The actual obligations are to place the dummy hand face upwards in columns and to order each suit from the highest at the top down to the lowest at the bottom. After the dummy has been displayed the player to declarer’s left has to make the opening lead. In this example that player is East. He places a card (his choice) on the table face up and the game commences. The object is for each side to win as many tricks as possible. Declarer is in total charge of his side’s 26 cards; dummy takes no further part in the game, other than doing what he is told. Dummy’s cards are nominated by declarer and dummy can do nothing except play the card that his partner tells him to. Declarer can use a form of shorthand such as “small” to mean “play the lowest card in that suit, please partner” and similar circumlocutions. As in all types of whist-based games, play is clockwise. The hand that won the last trick leads to the next trick. If dummy won the trick, dummy has to lead to the next trick although, naturally, it is declarer who has to make the choice of which card to lead. Players make a record of how many tricks are won by each side. The total number of tricks won must, of course, total 13. So, as an example, if North-South end up with nine tricks, East-West must have made four tricks. Eight deals follow, all played in No-trumps.


Hands for §1: Introduction to Minibridge (No-trumps).

Hand 1 Dealer North

[ Q J 6 2 ] 8 6 5 { 10 3 } Q J 10 3 [ A K 3 N [ 9 8 4 ] Q 4 2

W E ] A K 3

{ 9 4 2 { A K Q J } A 6 4 2 S } 9 8 5

[ 10 7 5 ] J 10 9 7 { 8 7 6 5 } K 7

West North East South 13 6 17 4

East-West have the majority of the points with East holding the best hand at the table. East therefore becomes declarer and West becomes the dummy.

South leads the ]J (top of a sequence) and East has

to make as many tricks as he can. It should be possible to make ten tricks, which can be cashed immediately. These ten tricks are (in some convenient order): two Spades, three Hearts, four Diamonds and a Club. As a point of technique, declarer should cash his tricks in one suit before switching to another and not “butterfly” by switching from one suit to another at random. When you have decided which suit to play on – stick to it!

Hand 2 Dealer East

[ 7 2 ] 10 8 6 4 { K J 9 } A Q 10 8 [ K Q J 10 6 N [ 9 8 4 ] A 5 3

W E ] K Q 2

{ 7 5 3 2 { 8 6 4 } 4 S } 6 5 3 2 [ A 5 3 ] J 9 7 { A Q 10 } K J 9 7


North-South hold the majority of the high cards so they become the partnership that plays the hand. With 15 points it is South who becomes declarer and North who puts his hand down as dummy. West leads the [K and South has to make at least

seven tricks. That should be simple enough a task as there are four Clubs, three Diamonds and a Spade for a total of eight tricks. Note that there are only three Diamond tricks despite North-South holding all of the {A K Q J 10 9 between them (and, in the same

vein, only four Club tricks despite North-South holding all of the }A K Q J 10 9 8 7 between them).

C’est la vie.

Hand 3

Dealer South [ 7 6 4 2 ] A K Q { Q J 4 } K Q 4 [ A K Q J 8 N [ 5 ] 2

W E ] J 10 9 7 5 4

{ 10 8 7 2 { 6 5 } 9 7 5 S } 10 8 6 3 [ 10 9 3 ] 8 6 3 { A K 9 3 } A J 2


North-South hold the majority of the high cards so they become the partnership that plays the hand. With 17 points it is North who becomes declarer and South who puts his hand down as dummy.

The deal is played in No-trumps with East to lead. Now, it is normal for East (who is “blind”, remember) to lead the ]J (top of a sequence) hoping that West

has some Hearts and that East-West will make tricks there. No such luck and North will take advantage of his luck by making three Hearts, four Diamonds (if he plays the suit to best advantage) and three Clubs for a total of ten tricks. “If only you’d have led a Spade”, says West, sorrowfully. True, but East didn’t know.

Hand 4 Dealer West

[ 8 5 3 ] 10 8 { 10 7 6 } K Q J 9 6 [ 6 2 N [ A 9 7 4 ] K 3 2

W E ] A Q 4

{ A K Q J 8 { 4 3 2 } A 8 5 S } 10 7 2 [ K Q J 10 ] J 9 7 6 5 { 9 5 } 4 3


East-West just have the majority of the points with West holding the best hand at the table. West therefore becomes declarer and East becomes the dummy.

North leads the }K (top of a sequence) against West

and that player has to make at least seven tricks. There are nine “easy ones” (a Spade, three Hearts, four Diamonds and a Club) and West should take a tenth one as well. After he has played off his four top Diamonds he should note that no one has any Diamonds left making his {8 the boss Diamond.

When he leads that it makes the tenth trick, of course…


Hands for §1: Introduction to Minibridge (No-trumps).

Hand 5 Dealer North

[ Q J 10 9 ] K J 5 { 4 2 } 8 5 4 3 [ A 4 3 N [ 8 7 ] 10 8 6 4

W E ] 9 7 3

{ A K 5 { Q J 10 9 7 } A K Q S } J 9 7

[ K 6 5 2 ] A Q 2 { 8 6 3 } 10 6 2


East-West have the majority of the points with West holding the best hand at the table. West therefore becomes declarer and East becomes the dummy.

North leads the [Q and West’s task is to make at

least seven tricks. In fact he can make nine tricks as long as he plays the Diamonds correctly. This entails playing the {A and {K first and then following by

playing the {5 to dummy’s remaining {Q J 10. What

happens if he neglects to do this but plays the Diamonds in a different order? The answer is that there will be Diamond winners in the dummy but declarer will be unable to lead them. This is an important point, followed up in a later section.

Hand 6 Dealer East

[ 8 6 5 4 ] A K Q J { 9 6 } 10 5 3 [ K Q J 10 N [ 9 7 ] 10 3

W E ] 8 7 6 5 2

{ 7 5 4 2 { J 3 } A Q 7 S } K 9 8 6

[ A 3 2 ] 9 4 { A K Q 10 8 } J 4 2


North-South hold the majority of the high cards and South has the highest number of points. South therefore becomes the declarer and North becomes the dummy.

West leads the [K (top of a sequence) and South

has to make at least seven tricks. There are four Hearts to cash, three Diamonds and a Spade so that task is easy but South can make ten tricks with good play. Firstly, if he cashes the Hearts first he must not throw away his {10 8. Secondly, having made tricks

with the {A K Q, he should note that the {10 8 are

the boss Diamonds and can be cashed for two further tricks.

Hand 7 Dealer South

[ 8 7 6 5 4 ] J 10 8 6 3 { 3 } J 10 [ Q 2 N [ A K 3 ] A K 4

W E ] Q 5

{ 10 9 6 4 { 8 7 5 2 } 8 7 5 2 S } A K 4 3

[ J 10 9 ] 9 7 2 { A K Q J } Q 9 6


East-West hold the majority of the points and East has a better hand than West. East, therefore, becomes declarer, and West becomes the dummy.

South leads off the top Diamonds and takes the first four Diamond tricks before switching to the [J (it

being normal to lead the top card when holding a sequence). East has to make seven of the remaining nine tricks – in point of fact, he should make eight (three Heart tricks, three Spade tricks and two Club tricks). Care must be taken not to “crash” the Heart or Spade honours – the right play is to win the [Q

before playing the [A K and then to play the ]Q

before playing the ]A K.

Hand 8 Dealer West

[ A K Q 7 ] A 5 3 { A 6 5 } 8 6 2 [ J 10 9 N [ 5 4 2 ] J 10 8 7 6

W E ] K Q

{ 2 { K Q J 10 9 } K Q 10 9 S } J 5 3

[ 8 6 3 ] 9 4 2 { 8 7 4 3 } A 7 4


North-South have the majority of the points and North has the better hand of his partnership. North therefore becomes declarer and South becomes the dummy.

North has to make seven tricks after East has led the {K (top of a sequence). This isn’t easy although six

tricks are simple (there are three Spades and three Aces to make as easy tricks). What North has to realise is that the [7 is worth a trick after the [A K Q

have all gone. Declarer has to note that none of West, South nor East has a Spade left after three rounds of the suit so the [7 is the highest Spade in

town. Keeping track of suits is crucial in this game.


§2. Playing with a trump suit. §1 was about playing hands without a trump suit. This section is about playing with a trump suit. Let’s look at an example hand to see the process in action. North is the dealer and the cards are dealt as follows:

Deale

r

[ A 10 4 ] J 5 3 2

{ K Q J 7 } J 3

[ J 9 6 3 N [ K Q 7 ] K 10 4

W E ] A Q

{ 10 { 9 5 4 2 } A K 9 7 2 S } Q 8 6 5

[ 8 5 2 ] 9 8 7 6 { A 8 6 3 } 10 4

North (the dealer) starts off in the usual way by announcing his hand, “I have 12 points” and then each player in turn (going clockwise) announces his hand in a similar way. You should see that the points in this deal are distributed like this:

West North East South

11 12 13 4

Here, on this particular deal East-West have more points than North-South (24 points to 16). So, East-West is the partnership that plays the hand and can nominate the trump suit. As East has more points than West it is East who becomes declarer and West who becomes the dummy. Dummy, as in the play in No-trumps, must arrange his hand neatly, face upwards on the table. In this case West arranges his hand in columns to look a little like this: Again, as in §1, there is no statutory order in which the suits must be displayed. Here West has chosen to order his cards Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs when he exposes them but there is no rule that says he has to do it in precisely this way. Declarer (East, remember), after looking at both his own hand and dummy, nominates trumps. In the deal above declarer wants Clubs to be the trump suit as the East-West hands have nine Clubs between them. East does this by saying “I nominate Clubs” or “Clubs are trumps”. Note that No-trumps is a poor place to play as North-South might be able to take a lot of Diamonds with East powerless to stop them. Once trumps have been nominated the dummy (West) places the entire trump suit (in this case, Clubs) to his right – declarer’s left – so that dummy now looks something like this (see top of next page):


South, the player to declarer’s left, now chooses a card to lead and play commences. On this deal you should note that North-South could only take one trick in Diamonds – if they were to lead a second round of the suit dummy would trump (or ruff) it. A trump suit is useful on those hands where declarer and dummy have a lot of trumps between them and there are singletons and voids about. In general, a trump suit is chosen when a partnership has at least eight cards between them of a suit as this gives the opponents only five cards in the trump suit. If a partnership has only seven trumps between the two hands then the opponents have six trumps and the play of the cards can become very tricky. The “rule” therefore is to choose long suits as your trump suit, with length triumphing over strength. As an example of this have a look at this deal, with only the North-South cards shown:

[ 7 3 2 ] J 10 9 { 10 8 6 4 } K Q J

N

W E

S

[ 10 8 ] A K Q { J 9 7 5 3 } A 4 2

Here, North-South have 21 points to their opponents’ 19 and South is declarer. What suit would you like to be trumps? Firstly, note that playing the hand in No-trumps is very dodgy. East-West could take a number of tricks in Spades (how many tricks we can’t tell) and at least two tricks in Diamonds.

So South should choose a trump suit. You might think Hearts (or even Clubs) is best but in point of fact that is an illusion. Without doubt the right trump suit is Diamonds where North-South have nine cards.

On some layouts North-South might only lose two Diamond tricks (can you see how that might happen?) although they may well lose all of the {A K Q. They will also lose the [A K but no more tricks in Spades.

That makes five losers in all (and eight tricks gathered in). Now, if Hearts or Clubs were trumps then the opponents would have more trumps than the declaring side and East-West will, for sure, score at least one trick with their extra trump.

So, to repeat, the rule is length before strength.

The eight hands that follow are all played in a trump suit. Declarer just has to choose the best trump suit on each deal.


Hands for §2: Introduction to Minibridge (Trumps).

Hand 1 Dealer North

[ A K Q 10 8 7 ] A K 5 { 4 3 2 } 7 [ 6 N [ 4 2 ] 8 7 6 3 2

W E ] 9 4

{ K Q J 6 5 { 9 7 } 6 2 S } A K Q J 10 4 3 [ J 9 5 3 ] Q J 10 { A 10 8 } 9 8 5


North-South hold the majority of the high cards and North has the highest number of points. North therefore becomes the declarer and South becomes the dummy.

After a look at dummy (a glance should be enough!) North should select Spades as trumps as North-South have ten (very good) cards there. East leads the }A and North has to see how many tricks he can

make. As it happens, North should emerge with ten tricks, leaving East-West with just three. What would happen in No-trumps? The answer is that East could take (cash) the first seven tricks in Clubs, meaning that North would be unable to make more than six.

Hand 2 Dealer East

[ 7 6 3 ] 7 6 { 9 7 6 4 3 2 } J 4 [ 10 8 4 N [ A K Q ] A K Q J 10 9

W E ] 5 4 2

{ A 5 { K Q J } 8 3 S } 7 6 5 2 [ J 9 5 2 ] 8 3 { 10 8 } A K Q 10 9


East-West have the majority of the points with East holding the best hand at the table. East therefore becomes declarer and West puts down his hand as dummy.

When West’s hand is put face upwards on the table East can see that there is a very good trump suit for the partnership in Hearts, even though declarer doesn’t have much in that suit himself. After East nominates Hearts as trumps South leads the }A.

East should be able to make eleven tricks with North-South managing just two. What would happen in No-trumps? South would cash the first five Club tricks, leaving East to mop up the remaining eight tricks.

Hand 3 Dealer South

[ A 8 4 ] K 9 8 2 { J 7 } K 9 5 3 [ Q J 10 2 N [ K 5 3 ] 10 6 3

W E ] Q J 7 4

{ A K Q 8 { 9 5 4 3 2 } 4 2 S } 6 [ 9 7 6 ] A 5 { 10 6 } A Q J 10 8 7


North-South hold the majority of the high cards so they become the partnership that plays the hand. Note that North and South have the same number of points but as South was the first player to announce his points (as dealer) it is South who becomes the declarer and North who has to be dummy.

After a look at the exposed dummy hand South has an easy time in selecting Clubs as the trump suit as North-South have ten cards there. West should lead the {A and South has to see how many tricks he can

make. As it happens South should make nine tricks. What would happen in No-trumps? East-West would cash the first five Diamonds, leaving eight to South.

Hand 4 Dealer West

[ A K Q J 6 5 ] 10 8 7 { 4 } 9 7 6 [ 10 8 7 N [ 4 3 2 ] A 5 2

W E ] K 6 4

{ A K Q 10 8 { J 9 7 6 5 } A 4 S } 10 3 [ 9 ] Q J 9 3 { 3 2 } K Q J 8 5 2



When East’s hand is displayed for all to see it is clear to West that his side’s best trump suit is Diamonds. After West has nominated Diamonds as trumps North will lead the [A and declarer has to make as

many tricks as he can. West should manage eight tricks, leaving North-South with five. What would happen in No-trumps? North would cash the first six Spade tricks, leaving West to make the last seven tricks when he finally gained the lead.


Hands for §2: Introduction to Minibridge (Trumps).

Hand 5 Dealer North

[ 6 5 4 ] 10 7 5 3 2 { A K Q } 7 3 [ K Q J 8 2 N [ A 7 ] 9 8

W E ] 4

{ 9 5 3 { 10 8 6 4 } J 9 8 S } Q 10 6 5 4 2

[ 10 9 3 ] A K Q J 6 { J 7 2 } A K



After a look at dummy South should select Hearts as trumps as North-South have ten good cards there. West should lead the [K (top of a sequence) and

South has to see how many tricks he can make. As it happens, South can make ten tricks. What would happen in No-trumps? East-West can take the first five Spade tricks although this involves an overtaking

play in Spades. Basically East has to put his [A on

his partner’s [K and play another Spade back.

Hand 6 Dealer East

[ Q 10 6 ] 8 6 5 { 10 3 } A 9 8 7 5 [ A K 3 N [ 9 8 4 ] Q J 2

W E ] A K 3

{ 9 8 4 2 { A K Q J 6 5 } K 6 4 S } 3

[ J 7 5 2 ] 10 9 7 4 { 7 } Q J 10 2


East-West have the majority of the points with East holding the best hand at the table. East therefore becomes declarer and West becomes the dummy.

When West’s hand is put on the table East can see that there is a very good trump suit (actually, a ten-card fit) for the partnership. Accordingly East chooses to play the hand in Diamonds. South leads the }Q (top of a sequence) and East has to make as

many tricks as he can. It is possible to make eleven tricks. What would happen in No-trumps? The }Q

lead traps dummy’s }K and North-South can take

the first five Club tricks. There is nothing declarer can do about this as the }A sits over the }K.

Hand 7 Dealer South

[ K Q J 9 7 ] K 9 4 { K J 9 } 7 3 [ A N [ 8 4 3 ] J 7 5 3

W E ] 10 6 2

{ A 7 5 { Q 6 3 } K Q 6 4 2 S } J 10 9 8

[ 10 6 5 2 ] A Q 8 { 10 8 4 2 } A 5


North-South hold the majority of the points and North has a better hand than South. North, therefore becomes declarer, a disappointment to West who has the best hand at the table.

With a sight of the dummy North can see that the best trump suit is Spades (because it is the longest suit that North-South hold between them). Declarer should make around nine tricks after East leads the }J (top of a sequence). What would happen in No-

trumps? This would be “tit-for-tat”. East would lead a Club, forcing North to use up dummy’s }A. North

would have to play a Spade to force the [A (tit-for-

tat) and now East-West would have their Club tricks.

Hand 8 Dealer West

[ Q J 10 ] 8 3 { 9 7 } A K Q 6 5 4 [ A 4 N [ K 5 ] A K Q 10 5 2

W E ] J 9 7 6

{ A 6 5 { K 8 3 2 } J 7 S } 10 9 8

[ 9 8 7 6 3 2 ] 4 { Q J 10 4 } 3 2


East-West have the majority of the points and West has the better hand of his partnership. Therefore West becomes declarer and East’s fate is to become the dummy.

With a sight of his partner’s hand West has to decide which suit to make trumps. With ten Hearts between the two hands it is an easy decision to make that suit trumps. Declarer may well be able to make as many as ten tricks after North leads the }A. What would

happen in No-trumps? North has a fine six-card suit and East-West have no stopper there (a term meaning that North can run off six uninterrupted tricks in his long suit). West will have the last seven.


§3. Mixed No-trumps and trumps. In this final section we look at deals where declarer has a choice of whether to play in a trump suit or in No-trumps. What would sway declarer’s choice of strain?

Let’s have a look at a typical deal, but only the North-South cards.

[ Q 7 5 ] A K 4 { 8 7 6 2 } A 3 2

Dummy

W E

Declarer

[ A K J 8 ] Q 8 5 { A 9 3 } 9 6 4

If you were South (declarer) what strain would you nominate? Spades? Hearts? Diamonds? Clubs? No-trumps? And why?

The answer is: declarer should nominate No-trumps. Firstly, note, that North-South have no eight-card (or longer) fit in any trump suit – that argues against making any suit trumps. Secondly, note that the North-South hands are balanced. This is a common term used in Minibridge (and bridge) and it denotes a hand without a long suit and without any singletons or any voids. If you would like to be technical here then it is usually applied to hands with a suit pattern of 4∙3∙3∙3 or 4∙4∙3∙2. Here, both North and South have 4∙3∙3∙3 shapes. Balanced hands usually play better in No-trumps than with a trump suit. Finally, note that North-South have stoppers in all suits. This means that the opponents cannot lead a suit and run off tricks there. Essentially, North-South control all four suits.

If you can count your tricks in advance maybe you can see that South can make nine tricks on this deal; he has four Spade tricks, three Heart tricks and two Aces.

Now, by contrast, have a look at this hand:

[ 5 ] K 8 7 2 { A Q 9 5 } 8 7 5 3

Dummy

W E

Declarer

[ 10 6 4 2 ] A Q J 10 3 { K J } J 4

Here, South should nominate Hearts as trumps. Why? Well, neither North nor South is balanced (if we are being technical, South has a 5∙4∙2∙2 shape and North has a 4∙4∙4∙1 shape), North-South do have a nine-card fit in a suit (Hearts) and North-South do not have stoppers in either Clubs or Spades (meaning that East-West could take an unknown number of Club and Spade tricks before South gets a look in).

Here, a trump suit controls the hand. If East-West decide to lead Spades then North (dummy) can trump the second round, allowing East-West only one trick in Spades. If East-West lead Clubs South can trump the third round, allowing the opponents only two tricks in Clubs.

The eight hands that follow are mixed. Declarer has to decide whether to nominate a trump suit or No-trumps.


Hands for §3: Introduction to Minibridge (mixed trumps and No-trumps).

Hand 1 Dealer North

[ K Q J 8 7 5 ] A K Q { 10 8 6 } 2 [ 3 2 N [ 4 ] J

W E ] 10 9 8 5 3

{ K Q 9 7 4 { J 2 } J 10 9 5 4 S } A K Q 7 6 [ A 10 9 6 ] 7 6 4 2 { A 5 3 } 8 3


North-South hold the majority of the high cards and North has the highest number of points. North therefore becomes the declarer and South becomes the dummy.

After a look at dummy North should select Spades as trumps as North-South have a ten-card fit there. East should lead the }A and North has to see how many

tricks he can make. As it happens, North should emerge with ten tricks, leaving East-West with just three. Note that North must lead off some trumps as his first play otherwise East-West may make a cheap trick with the [2 by trumping a Heart. No-trumps

would allow East-West to take the first five tricks.

Hand 2 Dealer East

[ 9 6 3 2 ] 5 4 { A Q 9 8 } 10 9 3 [ J 10 8 7 N [ A K Q ] A Q 10 8 7 6

W E ] K J

{ None { J 6 5 3 } J 5 4 S } 8 7 6 2 [ 5 4 ] 9 3 2 { K 10 7 4 2 } A K Q


East-West have the majority of the points with East holding the best hand at the table. East therefore becomes declarer and West puts down his hand as dummy.

When West’s hand is put face upwards on the table East can see that there is a very good trump suit for the partnership in Hearts, even though declarer doesn’t have much in that suit himself. After East nominates Hearts as trumps South leads the }A.

East should be able to make ten tricks, although South will have the first three. Again (as in Hand 1), East should take care to play off some Hearts to get rid of North-South’s trumps as early as he can.

Hand 3 Dealer South

[ K J 2 ] J 9 5 3 { A 6 } Q 10 9 2 [ 9 8 6 5 N [ 10 3 ] A Q

W E ] K 8 7 4

{ J 10 9 8 { 7 5 4 2 } A J 4 S } K 7 3 [ A Q 7 4 ] 10 6 2 { K Q 3 } 8 6 5


North-South hold the majority of the high cards so they become the partnership that plays the hand. However, North and South have the same number of points. Because South was the first player to announce his points (as he is dealer) it is South who becomes the declarer and North who has to put up with being the dummy.

After a look at the exposed dummy hand South has an awkward decision but should select No-trumps as the North-South hands are balanced (there is no good trump suit). This type of deal can be difficult but declarer does have three Diamonds and four Spades to make so he should record at least seven tricks.

Hand 4 Dealer West

[ K Q J 9 ] J 7 5 2 { 6 3 } J 10 9 [ 6 3 N [ 8 5 ] K Q 9

W E ] A 8 4

{ A J 9 7 5 { K Q 10 4 } A K 4 S } 7 6 3 2 [ A 10 7 4 2 ] 10 6 3 { 8 2 } Q 8 5



When East’s hand is displayed for all to see it is clear to West that his side’s best trump suit is Diamonds. After West has nominated Diamonds as trumps North will lead the [K (top of a sequence) and

declarer has to make as many tricks as he can. Declarer should manage ten tricks, leaving North-South with three. North-South should be able to take two tricks in Spades immediately and, eventually, a trick in Clubs.


Hands for §3: Introduction to Minibridge (mixed trumps and No-trumps).

Hand 5 Dealer North

[ A 6 5 ] K Q 2 { Q J 5 } J 10 9 8 [ K Q J N [ 10 9 8 3 ] 10 9 7 3

W E ] 8 6

{ 8 4 { 10 9 7 3 } A K Q 6 S } 7 5 4

[ 7 4 2 ] A J 5 4 { A K 6 2 } 3 2


North-South hold the majority of the points and North has a better hand than South. North, therefore becomes declarer, a disappointment to West who has the best hand at the table.

With a sight of his partner’s hand North has to decide what strain to play in. With no decent trump suit (no eight-card fit) the right answer is No-trumps. East leads the [10 and North should make nine tricks via

a Spade, four Hearts and four Diamonds. Care has to be taken to play off the ]K Q as the first play in

Hearts and the {Q J as the first play in Diamonds.

Otherwise the suits may get tangled and declarer may end up in the wrong hand at the wrong time.

Hand 6 Dealer East

[ J 10 9 8 7 6 5

] K Q J 10 9 { None } 5 [ 4 3 N [ A K Q 2 ] 7 3

W E ] A 6 5 2

{ 6 5 4 2 { A K Q } K Q J 10 3 S } A 2

[ None ] 8 4 { J 10 9 8 7 3 } 9 8 7 6 4


East-West have the majority of the points with East holding the best hand at the table, a massive 26 points. East therefore becomes declarer and West becomes the dummy.

With a sight of his partner’s hand East has to decide what strain to play in. With no decent trump suit (no eight-card fit) the right answer is No-trumps. South leads the {J and East should make twelve tricks,

provided that he plays off the }A before playing the

rest of the Clubs. This way the makes three Spades, a Heart, three Diamonds and five Clubs. If he plays the Clubs in any other way the then some high Clubs will be stranded in the dummy…

Hand 7 Dealer South

[ 5 4 2 ] Q 9 4 { K Q 4 3 } 10 7 6 [ A K Q 10 N [ 9 8 7 6 3 ] 6 5 2

W E ] 3

{ 8 6 2 { J 10 9 7 } J 8 3 S } K Q 9

[ J ] A K J 10 8 7 { A 5 } A 5 4 2



After a look at dummy South should select Hearts as trumps as North-South have nine cards there. West leads the [A (top of a sequence) and South has to

see how many tricks he can make. As it happens, South can make ten tricks allowing East-West three. South’s tricks are made up from six Hearts, three Diamonds and a Club. It is important (in principle, anyway) to play off some Hearts first (to draw trumps) before playing the {A and then the {K Q.

Hand 8 Dealer West

[ K Q J 10 4 ] A { 10 6 3 2 } 8 6 5 [ A 6 5 N [ 9 7 3 ] J 9 6 2

W E ] 10 8

{ A 5 4 { K Q J 9 } A 4 2 S } K Q J 10

[ 8 2 ] K Q 7 5 4 3 { 8 7 } 9 7 3


East-West have the majority of the points and West has the better hand of his partnership. West therefore becomes declarer and East becomes the dummy.

With a sight of his partner’s hand West has to decide what strain to play in. With no decent trump suit (no eight-card fit) the right answer is No-trumps. North leads the [K and West should make nine tricks. He

must be careful to release the Aces of Clubs and Diamonds early enough – if he holds them back he may end up in the wrong hand at the wrong time. With correct play West makes a Spade, four Diamonds and four Clubs for nine in all.


§4: Basic scoring. So far, scoring has been either non-existent or very simple (just a note of how many tricks each side has scored). In this section we are going to see how basic scoring is done. (Yes, it does get more complicated). This is shown in the table below and, naturally enough, links with the game of bridge itself. The basic principle of scoring is that declarer’s partnership score points for every trick they take above six (think of that as being more than half of thirteen, which is the total number of tricks available on any deal). Making six tricks or fewer is bad news for declarer – making seven tricks or more is good. The points scored vary depending on the trump suit (or No-trumps). The table below shows the relative worth of the suits and No-trumps.

No-trumps NT 40 points for seven tricks then an extra 30 points for every trick above seven.

Spades Hearts

[ ] } 30 points for every trick taken above six.

Diamonds Clubs

{

} } 20 points for every trick taken above six.

Some simple examples follow, firstly the trick scores:

1. Declarer sets Hearts as trumps and makes eight tricks. What does he score?

The answer is: 60 points – that is 2 30.

2. If Diamonds were trumps and declarer made ten tricks he would score 80 points.

(That is 4 20).

3. If there were no trumps and declarer made eight tricks he would score 70 points. (That is 40 + 30).

4. If Spades were trumps and declarer made twelve tricks he would score 180 points.

(That is 6 30) To make things slightly more difficult there are bonuses available to declarer. That is: for making more than six tricks declarer is always awarded an extra 50 points. The examples above, therefore, need to be modified as below:

1. If Hearts were trumps and declarer made eight tricks he would actually score 110 points.

(That is 2 30 + 50)

2. If Diamonds were trumps and declarer made ten tricks he would actually score 130 points.

(That is 4 20 + 50)

3. If there were No-trumps and declarer made eight tricks he would actually score 120 points. (That is (40 + 30) + 50)

4. If Spades were trumps and declarer made twelve tricks he would actually score 230 points.

(That is 6 30 + 50)

In each case declarer’s opponents score nothing. It is helpful to be declarer as his partnership (usually) scores points. However, should declarer fail to make seven tricks he will be penalised, as described in the following paragraph. Failure by declarer to make at least seven tricks will concede a penalty of 50 points per trick short. Thus, if declarer makes six tricks he will lose 50 points, if he makes five tricks he will lose 100 points and so on. These penalty scores do not depend on what suit is trumps.


Thus, for example, if declarer nominates Spades as trumps and makes five tricks his opponents would

score 100 points (2 50) for two tricks short of seven. It wouldn’t matter if Clubs had been trumps, it is still a penalty of 100 points. Declarer’s side would score nothing. Given that the declarer and dummy have more high cards than the opponents and have the privilege of selecting the trump suit, failure to make more than half the number of available tricks should not happen often! The table below acts as a ready-reckoner for all possible outcomes. Can you see how all the scores are calculated? Remember, in all occasions where seven or more tricks are taken there is a bonus of 50 points as well as a trick score.

Number of tricks taken.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

NT -350 -300 -250 -200 -150 -100 -50 90 120 150 180 210 240 270

[ ]

-350 -300 -250 -200 -150 -100 -50 80 110 140 170 200 230 260

{ }

-350 -300 -250 -200 -150 -100 -50 70 90 110 130 150 170 190

Naturally enough, these scores link in with the game of bridge itself so are useful to remember. In the eight hands that follow you should try to calculate the score on each of the deals.


Hands for §4: Basic scoring.

Hand 1 Dealer North

[ 8 ] 10 7 6 2 { K Q 10 6 } 6 5 4 3 [ Q 10 4 2 N [ A K J 9 6 5 ] K Q J

W E ] A 5 4

{ 8 5 3 { A 4 2 } 10 8 7 S } 9 [ 7 3 ] 9 8 3 { J 9 7 } A K Q J 2


East-West have the majority of the points with East holding the best hand at the table. East therefore becomes declarer, West becomes the dummy.

When West’s hand is displayed it should be clear to East that his side’s best trump suit is Spades as there is a ten-card fit there. After declarer has nominated Spades as trumps South should lead the }A and declarer has to make as many tricks as he

can. East should actually manage to make ten tricks, (six Spades, three Hearts and a Diamond) leaving North-South with just three. The score to East-West

is therefore 170 points (4 30 + 50). North-South score nothing.

Hand 2 Dealer East

[ A K Q ] 5 { 8 7 4 } K 10 7 6 5 2 [ 10 8 7 5 N [ 6 3 2 ] A K 6

W E ] Q J 9 7 4 3

{ Q J 3 { A K 9 } Q J 4 S } 8 [ J 9 4 ] 10 8 2 { 10 6 5 2 } A 9 3


East-West again have the majority of the points with West holding the strongest hand. West therefore becomes declarer and East becomes the dummy.

When East’s hand appears for inspection it should be obvious to West that his side’s best trump suit is Hearts, where his side have a nine-card fit. After Hearts become trumps North will lead the [A and

declarer has to rake in some tricks. Declarer will lose the first three tricks with the }A to lose as well but

should still manage nine tricks, leaving North-South with four. If this is indeed the case the score is 140

points to East-West (3 30 + 50). North-South score nothing.

Hand 3 Dealer South

[ 10 8 5 ] A K J { A 6 } 10 9 8 7 4 [ 9 7 6 N [ A K Q J ] 7 5 4 2

W E ] 10 8 3

{ 10 9 8 7 { K Q J 4 } 6 2 S } 5 3 [ 4 3 2 ] Q 9 6 { 5 3 2 } A K Q J


Now North-South hold the balance of the high cards despite East having the best hand at the table. As North and South hold equally strong hands it is the player who announces his points first that becomes declarer. In this case that player is South (who, as dealer, was first to speak) leaving North as dummy.

After a look at the exposed dummy South should select Clubs as trumps as North-South have nine cards there. West may as well select the {10 as the

opening lead (top of a sequence). South should emerge with nine tricks, leaving East-West with four.

North-South score 110 points (3 20 + 50), East-West get nothing.

Hand 4 Dealer West

[ A K Q ] 9 7 4 2 { A K Q } A 5 3 [ J 10 9 7 4 N [ 8 ] 8 6

W E ] A K Q J 10

{ J 10 8 3 { 5 2 } J 6 S } Q 10 9 8 7 [ 6 5 3 2 ] 5 3 { 9 7 6 4 } K 4 2


North-South hold the majority of the high cards as North has a magnificent hand. North therefore becomes the declarer, South exposing a poor hand as dummy.

North should reflect that his partnership has no good trump suit to play in (the best fit is just seven cards) This is the time to play in No-trumps so that is what North should nominate. East will lead the ]A and can

take the first five tricks in that suit. That, however, is the end of the party with North-South able to take the last eight (three Spades, three Diamonds and two Clubs). The score is North-South +120 points (40 + 30 + 50), with East-West getting nothing.


Hands for §4: Basic scoring.

Hand 5

Dealer North [ A K J 9 7 6 ] A K Q J { 6 2 } 6 [ 5 3 2 N [ 8 4 ] 6 4 3 2

W E ] 10 9 8 7

{ Q 10 4 { K J 9 } K J 3 S } Q 9 8 4 [ Q 10 ] 5 { A 8 7 5 3 } A 10 7 5 2


North-South hold the majority of the high cards as North has a strong hand. North therefore becomes the declarer, South displaying his hand as dummy.

North should see that his side has very useful Spades (there is an eight-card fit there) and nominate those as trumps. With lots of top cards in the outside suits North can easily make twelve tricks with Spades as trumps. (There are six Spade tricks, four Hearts and two Aces to take). East-West can do nothing on any lead – East is going to lead the ]10 in

fact, which does no damage to North at all. The

score is North-South +230 points (6 30 + 50), with East-West getting nothing.

Hand 6 Dealer East

[ 8 6 4 ] K 7 5 3 { 6 5 } 9 7 6 2 [ J 10 7 N [ K Q 9 ] Q J 10 9

W E ] 6 4

{ K J 8 3 2 { A Q 10 7 } 8 S } 10 5 4 3 [ A 5 3 2 ] A 8 2 { 9 4 } A K Q J


North-South again hold the majority of the high cards but this time only just (21 points to 19). South has the strong hand and therefore becomes declarer, North being the dummy.

North-South’s best trump suit is Clubs (an eight-card fit) and South should duly nominate them as such. West leads the ]Q (top of a sequence) in the hope of

setting up some tricks there. Declarer must lose a fair few tricks on this hand and will doubtless be happy to emerge with seven tricks. (At the very least, South should make four Clubs, the [A and the ]A

K). The score for this is: North-South gain 70 points (20 + 50), East-West get nothing.

Hand 7

Dealer South [ J 10 9 7 6 ] 10 { 8 7 } K J 8 7 6 [ A 5 3 N [ K 4 2 ] A K 6 5 4

W E ] Q J 9 3 2

{ K 9 6 { A 5 3 } 4 2 S } 9 3 [ Q 8 ] 8 7 { Q J 10 4 2 } A Q 10 5


East-West have the majority of the points this time with West holding the best hand at the table. West therefore becomes declarer and East becomes the dummy.

With ten cards in the suit between the two hands it should be clear to West that his side’s best trump suit is Hearts. With no Club stopper No-trumps is very dodgy indeed. After declarer has nominated Hearts North will lead the [J and declarer has to

make as many tricks as he can, which in this case is probably nine (five Hearts, two Spades and two Diamonds). The score to East-West is therefore 140

points (3 30 + 50). North-South score nothing.

Hand 8 Dealer West

[ K J 9 ] J 10 8 6 { 4 2 } 9 6 4 3 [ 10 8 4 N [ A 6 2 ] K Q 2

W E ] A 4 3

{ J 10 9 { A K Q 8 7 6 } 10 8 5 2 S } 7 [ Q 7 5 3 ] 9 7 5 { 5 3 } A K Q J


East-West again have the majority of the points with East holding the best hand at the table. East becomes declarer and West displays the dummy.

Here Diamonds are the best trump suit with a nine-card fit and East should choose them as such. South will lead a top Club and East will almost certainly end up with ten tricks (consisting of six Diamond tricks, three Heart tricks and the [A). The score to East-

West is therefore 130 points (4 20 + 50). North-South score nothing. As it happens East-West could have made nine tricks in No-trumps as North-South could only take four Club tricks. However, East can’t know that; East-West have no Club stopper.


§5. Developing tricks.

General Approach: Almost all deals played in any forms of bridge contain top tricks that can be cashed immediately and suits that must be developed into tricks. Most times in declarer play there is a need to develop tricks before cashing winners.

Here is a hand where declarer (South) can see ten top tricks having nominated Hearts as trumps. West leads the }K (top of a sequence):

[ Q 3 ] 9 8 7 6 4

{ 10 8 7 } A 4 2

[ 10 8 6 5 Dummy [ A J 9 7 2 ] 5 3

W E ] 2

{ 9 5 3 { 6 4 2 } K Q J 10 Declarer } 9 8 6 5

[ K 4 ] A K Q J 10 { A K Q J } 7 3

In this example South can win the }A in the dummy and can cash his winners. After the }A declarer has

five Heart tricks and four Diamond tricks. That gives South ten tricks in all. Can he do better?

Well, yes – he can make eleven tricks by making a trick in Spades. Best play is to do this early. If he waits to the very end he may not make a Spade trick at all. In fact, the best play of the whole hand is to win the }A, play some Hearts (but not all, just enough to ensure that East-West have none left) and then

play a Spade to knock out the [A.

There are two ways that declarer might choose to do this – he might lead the [K (and contribute

dummy’s [3) or he might lead the [4 and play dummy’s [Q. Either way, when East takes his [A the

other Spade honour (the [Q or the [K) is now the top Spade and is a winner. As far as declarer is

concerned the [K and [Q are equals on this deal. Either may be used to knock out the [A, leaving the

other honour as the boss card in Spades. Can you see why it would be poor play to cash all five Hearts beore leading a Spade?

This theme (that of knocking out high cards, is very important and forms the basis of most hands at Minibridge (and whist, and bridge). Note that West on the last hand also did some knocking out – the opening lead of the }K knocked out declarer’s }A. This, in turn, set up the }Q (or the }J or the }10) as

winners in the suit. On this deal the Club sequence }K Q J 10 were all equals. West could equally well

have led the }K, the }Q, the }J or the }10 as his opening shot. It is customary, however, to lead the

top card from a sequence so that your partner knows what is going on.

Put yourself at the helm in the next deal by sitting in the South seat as declarer. Spades are trumps, West leads the }K. How would you play the hand?

[ 9 8 7 6 5 ] 10 9 7 { 5 4 2 } 5 3

Dummy

}K

W E

Declarer

[ A K Q J 10 ] K Q J { K Q J } A 6


South should make ten tricks. He has five top tricks in Spades, and one top trick in Clubs. As well as that he can set up two tricks in Hearts and two tricks in Diamonds by knocking out the Ace of each red suit. As on the last hand it is best to do this early. Can you see why? Let’s go through the play. South should win the }A, play off sufficient trumps so that East-West have no

more and then turn his attention to a red suit (it doesn’t matter which – say Hearts). South can lead any of his Hearts (they are all equals) to force the ]A. That sets up two Heart winners in declarer’s hand. If

the opponents take a Club trick they may play back a Heart. South wins that and switches his attention to Diamonds, leading any of his equal cards. That forces the {A, setting up two Diamond winners.

You will note that declarer is always in control. Whatever East-West do declarer can regain the lead fairly quickly – had he played off all of his trump winners then that would not be the case. It is worth noting that it is possible to count losers. Here, South must lose the ]A, the {A and a Club trick.

That means declarer has three losers (and, therefore, you might expect ten winners). Try this one, where the relevant high cards are split between declarer and dummy. South is declarer with Spades as trumps. West leads the {K.

[ Q J 10 3 2 ] K 4 2 { 6 4 3 } Q 3

Dummy

{K

W E

Declarer

[ A K 6 5 4 ] Q J 3 { A 5 2 } K 6

1) How many top tricks are there?

2) What suits should South set up?

3) How many losers does declarer have?

4) How many tricks should declarer make?

Let’s answer these questions in turn.

1) There are six top tricks. Five in Spades (even though the top Spades are in different hands) and the {A.

2) Declarer should knock out the ]A and the }A to set up two tricks in Hearts and one in Clubs.

3) Declarer should lose the ]A, two Diamond tricks (as the {A has been knocked out at trick one)

and the }A.

4) Declarer has four losers and nine winners (five Spades, two Hearts, two Diamonds and a Club).

The Heart winners and the Club winner are slow tricks. The eight hands that follow in this section require declarer to set up suits by driving out (or knocking out) the opponents’ high cards.


Hands for §5: Developing tricks.

Hand 1 Dealer North

[ K J 8 ] Q J 10 8 7 { A K 9 } 10 4 [ A 9 5 N [ 10 7 6 4 ] 3 2

W E ] 5 4

{ J 6 3 2 { 10 8 5 } 9 7 6 5 S } A K Q 3 [ Q 3 2 ] A K 9 6 { Q 7 4 } J 8 2


North becomes declarer and should choose Hearts as trumps as his side has nine of them. East will lead the }A (top of a sequence) and declarer must count

his tricks. North can see eight top tricks (five Heart tricks and three Diamond tricks) and two Spade tricks after the [A has been knocked out.

So when declarer gains the lead he should play a Heart or two and then play on Spades. As the [K,

the [Q and the [J are all equals it doesn’t matter

whether declarer leads the [K or the [J or leads his

low Spade and plays dummy’s [Q. Whichever way

he does it there will be two Spade tricks set up for declarer. Ten tricks in Hearts scores 170 points.

Hand 2 Dealer East

[ A K Q J ] 5 3 2 { 10 4 2 } 9 5 2 [ 5 4 N [ 10 7 6 2 ] A K J 9 8

W E ] Q 10 7

{ K 7 6 { Q J 8 } K Q 3 S } J 6 4 [ 9 8 3 ] 6 4 { A 9 5 3 } A 10 8 7


West becomes declarer and should nominate Hearts. Declarer has five top tricks in the form of five Heart winners. Other tricks will have to be set up in Clubs and Diamonds (you can’t develop a Spade trick).

West’s plan should be to knock out the two Aces in Clubs and Diamonds. Let’s say North leads three rounds of Spades. West can ruff the last one and may choose to play a Heart or two. After that he should lead either Diamonds or Clubs, using one of the King, Queen or Jack to knock out the Ace. By repeating the process in the other suit declarer can set up two Diamond tricks and two Club tricks to go with five Heart tricks. Nine tricks makes 140.

Hand 3 Dealer South

[ K J 3 ] Q 9 2 { 7 6 5 3 } Q 10 2 [ A 9 7 4 N [ 8 6 2 ] 8 6 4

W E ] A 10 5 3

{ K Q J 9 { 10 8 4 2 } 4 3 S } A 8 [ Q 10 5 ] K J 7 { A } K J 9 7 6 5


South is declarer and should choose Clubs to be trumps. West leads the {K (top of a sequence).

South has three Aces to knock out – one of them being the Ace of trumps.

After winning the Diamond lead with the {A declarer

should play on trumps, driving out the }A. After that

declarer should plays some more Clubs (to extract East-West’s trumps) before doing the same thing in Spades and Hearts, losing tricks to the Aces but setting up winners in the process. In fact, the three Aces are all that South should lose, eventually making ten tricks (two Spades, two Hearts, a Diamond and five Clubs) for a score of 130 points.

Hand 4 Dealer West

[ A 6 4 3 ] A J 10 7 5 { 8 } K Q J [ K Q 8 N [ J 10 9 ] Q 4

W E ] K 6

{ K J 10 4 2 { A Q 7 6 3 } 6 5 2 S } A 4 3 [ 7 5 2 ] 9 8 3 2 { 9 5 } 10 9 8 7


East will play this hand as declarer and it is fairly obvious to make Diamonds trumps. South (what a foul hand!) will lead the }10 and declarer can take

stock. As well as the six top tricks (five Diamonds and a Club) there are slow tricks available in Spades and Hearts.

After the [A has been knocked out there are two

Spade tricks and after the ]A has been similarly

driven out there is one trick in that suit. Declarer should win, therefore, nine tricks (two Spades, a Heart, five Diamonds and a Club), losing two Club tricks and two Aces. That will record a score of 110 points to East-West.


Hands for §5: Developing tricks.

Hand 5 Dealer North

[ K J 9 6 ] Q 10 { A K Q 7 5 } 9 8 [ 8 7 5 3 N [ A 2 ] A 8 6

W E ] J 9 7 4

{ 4 { 8 6 2 } 10 5 4 3 2 S } A K J 7 [ Q 10 4 ] K 5 3 2 { J 10 9 3 } Q 6


North becomes declarer and should choose Diamonds as trumps as his side has nine of them. East will lead the }A and declarer must count his

tricks. North can see just five top tricks (all in Diamonds) with more in Spades and Hearts after the Aces have been driven out.

So when declarer gains the lead he should play a trump (or two or three) and then play on Spades. As the [K, the [Q, the [J and the [10 are all equals it

doesn’t matter which declarer leads. In the fullness of time declarer will make three Spades, five Diamonds and a heart (losing two Aces and two Clubs) making nine in all. That will score 110 points to North-South.

Hand 6 Dealer East

[ 10 7 5 ] J { A 8 7 6 } A 10 6 5 4 [ 6 4 2 N [ A 9 3 ] Q 10 7 5 3

W E ] A K 9 4 2

{ J 10 2 { K Q 4 } K 7 S } Q 3 [ K Q J 8 ] 8 6 { 9 5 3 } J 9 8 2


East will play this hand as declarer and it is fairly obvious to make Hearts trumps as East-West have a ten-card fit there. South will lead the [K (top of a

sequence) and declarer can take stock. As well as the six top tricks (five Hearts and a Spade) there are slow tricks available in Clubs and Diamonds.

Declarer can knock out the {A and the }A, setting

up one Club trick and two Diamond tricks in the process to go with aforementioned five Hearts and a Spade. Declarer should win, therefore, nine tricks, losing two Spade tricks and two Aces. That will score 140 points to East-West.

Hand 7 Dealer South

[ 9 8 6 2 ] A Q 10 { 10 8 4 2 } K J [ A 5 N [ 4 3 ] 9 8 6 2

W E ] 7 5 3

{ A K Q { 6 5 3 } 10 8 4 2 S } A 9 7 6 5 [ K Q J 10 7 ] K J 4 { J 9 7 } Q 3


South is declarer and should choose Spades to be trumps. West leads the {A. South has three Aces to

knock out – one of them being the Ace of trumps.

After West wins the first three Diamond tricks he switches, say to a Heart. South should play on trumps, driving out the Ace. As all declarer’s Spades are equals (barring the lowly [2) it doesn’t matter

what card declarer uses to knock out the [A. After

that declarer should do exactly the same thing in Clubs, knocking out the }A, setting up winners in the

process. South should lose three Diamonds and two Aces, eventually making eight tricks for a score of 110 points to North-South.

Hand 8 Dealer West

[ A K Q 10 ] 10 9 2 { 8 6 4 } 9 4 2 [ J N [ 9 6 5 4 2 ] A 5 3

W E ] K Q 4

{ A K Q 10 5 2 { J 9 } J 6 5 S } K Q 7 [ 8 7 3 ] J 8 7 6 { 7 3 } A 10 8 3


West becomes declarer and, fairly obviously, should select Diamonds as trumps. Declarer has nine top tricks in the form of six Diamond winners and three Heart winners. Other tricks will have to be developed in Clubs.

So West’s aim should be to knock out the }A to set

up two tricks in that suit Put together with the nine top tricks in Hearts and Diamonds that makes eleven tricks in all. The other way of looking at it is that declarer must lose two tricks to the black Aces but needs to lose no other trick. The score for making eleven tricks in Diamonds is 150 points to East-West.


§6: Suit combinations.

Almost all hands in all forms of bridge contain suit combinations. A suit combination is just the way a suit may be distributed between two hands. It is rare, in fact, that a suit is dealt between two hands so that all the high cards are in one hand. This example, however, is where all the high cards are in one hand:

} 4 3 2

Dummy

W E Declarer

} A K Q J 10

Here, it should be easy to see that there are five tricks in Clubs. Because all of South’s Clubs are equals it doesn’t matter in which order South plays them. Change the cards around a little, however, so that the high ones are not in the same hand:

} J 10 2

Dummy

W E Declarer

} A K Q 4 3

Here there are also five cashable tricks in this suit.

STOP! Can you see that this is so? Please note that there is a correct way to play this suit and, naturally enough, an incorrect way. You should lead a low card (the }3 or the }4) to North’s }10 or }J, play off

the other Club honour in the North hand and then lead the }2 to the }Q. What would happen if you

don’t do this?

What happens if you lead the three top Clubs from South? Can you see that this play will crash the Club honours?

Can you see why this might matter?

Crashing honours is, generally speaking, a very bad idea. It happens when declarer takes his eye off the ball and plays two high cards to the same trick. Another (frequent) example happens in a suit layout like the following:

} K 5 4

Dummy

W E Declarer

} A Q J 3

Here, an inattentive declarer (South in this example) plays off the }J and }Q as his first two plays in the

suit. Now, suddenly, he is on the horns of a dilemma as the remaining cards are: } K

Dummy

W E Declarer

} A 3

If South now plays the }A he crashes the }A and }K on the same trick, with no guarantee that the }3

will be the boss Club. On the other hand, if South leads the }3 to the }K the lead is with North and the

}A is with South. In many deals the }A will be stranded and may never make a trick.

Correct technique is to play the }K first and then a low Club to South’s remaining }A Q J. Then four

Club tricks are easy.


With this idea in mind can you play the following combinations correctly so that you make the stipulated number of tricks? Assume that the first lead comes from the South hand. 1: Make four tricks from this holding:

} J 4

Dummy

W E Declarer

} A K Q 3

2: Make three tricks from this holding:

} Q 7

Dummy

W E Declarer

} A K 5

3: Make five tricks from this holding: } A 4

Dummy

W E Declarer

} K Q J 10 6

4: Make five tricks from this holding: } Q J 10 4 3

Dummy

W E Declarer

} A K 2

5: Make four tricks from this holding: } A J 5 3

Dummy

W E Declarer

} K Q 7

6: Can you see a guiding principle here in these suit combinations?

Answers.

1: Lead the }3 to the }J and then lead back the }4 to South’s remaining }A K Q.

2: Lead the }5 first (playing North’s }Q) and follow with the }7 to South’s remaining }A K.

3: Lead the }6 first to the }A in the North hand and lead back the }4 to South’s remaining }K Q J 10.

4: Lead the }A first, follow that by cashing the }K. Now lead the }2 to North’s remaining }Q J 10.

5: Lead the }K first, follow that by cashing the }Q. Now lead the }7 to North’s remaining }A J.

6: It is generally right to play the high cards from the short suit first. In the eight hands that follow the emphasis is on “Play the high cards from the short suit first”.


Hands for §6: Suit combinations

Hand 1 Dealer North

[ A K Q 3 ] A Q J 6 { J 5 } 10 8 6 [ 10 9 8 7 N [ 6 4 2 ] 5 3 2

W E ] 10 9 8 7

{ 7 4 2 { 10 9 8 6 } A K 9 S } Q J [ J 5 ] K 4 { A K Q 3 } 7 5 4 3 2


North becomes declarer without a decent trump suit to declare. Clubs is North-South’s longest suit but they only score 20 a trick. A much better option is to select No-trumps. East-West could take the first three Club tricks but it is much more likely that East will try to build up tricks in Hearts by leading the top of his sequence. Now declarer can make twelve tricks, provided he overcomes the roadblocks in three suits. The best order of play is to win the ]K at

trick one and play off the [J (honours from the short

suit first). Now the way is clear to play a Spade or a Heart to cash all the winners in those suits, throwing Clubs away from the dummy. This is followed by the {J and a Diamond to dummy’s {A K Q.

Hand 2 Dealer East

[ 9 4 3 ] K J 7 2 { 9 7 } K Q 10 9 [ 7 6 5 N [ A K 2 ] 8 6 5

W E ] A 10 9

{ Q J 10 4 2 { A K 3 } J 3 S } A 6 4 2 [ Q J 10 8 ] Q 4 3 { 8 6 5 } 8 7 5


East has a powerful hand and becomes declarer. East should be able to see that he can make a number of tricks in either Diamonds or No-trumps. As No-trumps scores better than Diamonds he ought to opt for that. South will lead the [Q and East should

be able to make nine tricks – always provided that he plays the Diamonds to advantage. Following the rule of playing the honours from the short suit first declarer should lead off the {A K before playing a

low Diamond to dummy’s remaining {Q J 10. This

way he will make five Diamond tricks, two Spade tricks and two Aces for a total of nine in all. Played in No-trumps that is worth 150 points – in Diamonds it would be worth only 110 points. Every little helps…

Hand 3 Dealer South

[ Q 2 ] K 6 { Q 7 6 4 2 } Q 8 5 3 [ J 10 3 N [ 9 5 ] 10 9 8 7

W E ] J 5 4 2

{ J 10 8 { A K 9 } J 9 6 S } A K 10 7 [ A K 8 7 6 4 ] A Q 3 { 5 3 } 4 2


South becomes declarer and should nominate Spades as trumps as his side has eight of them. West may as well lead the ]10 (top of a sequence)

and declarer has to make some tricks. In fact, there are always nine tricks available on this deal – declarer should win the ]K at trick one (]A K Q are

all equals, remember) as it is usually best to play the honours from the short suit first. Following this principle in Spades (leading the [Q first and

following with a low Spade lead) ensures that South makes six Spade tricks (the opponents run out of Spades quite soon) and three Hearts. At the end East makes his four top tricks. The result is nine tricks for a score of 140 points to North-South.

Hand 4 Dealer West

[ 5 3 ] A K Q { 9 7 6 2 } 8 6 3 2 [ A K Q J 10 N [ 9 8 6 2 ] 6 5 3

W E ] J 10 4

{ K 4 { A Q J 3 } A 7 5 S } J 9 [ 7 4 ] 9 8 7 2 { 10 8 5 } K Q 10 4


West becomes declarer and has no trouble in selecting Spades as trumps. North will cash the first three tricks in Hearts and then switch to something else – probably a Club. Now West can make the remaining ten tricks providing he takes care in Diamonds. Firstly West must win the }A, secondly

he must play off some trumps (you mustn’t take the risk of allowing the opposition to make a cheap trick by trumping one of your Aces) and thirdly he must play on Diamonds. The correct way to do this is to play the {K first (playing the honour from the short

suit first). In that way declarer can make four tricks in Diamonds and can throw his little Clubs away. Ten tricks in Spades scores 170 to East-West.


Hands for §6: Suit combinations.

Hand 5 Dealer North

[ A K 2 ] A K 6 { Q J 10 4 2 } A 4 [ J 9 8 4 N [ Q 10 6 ] 8

W E ] 9 7 4 2

{ 8 7 6 5 { 9 } K 7 6 3 S } Q J 10 9 2 [ 7 5 3 ] Q J 10 5 3 { A K 3 } 8 5


North becomes declarer and could choose trumps to be either Hearts or Diamonds or, in fact, he could choose No-trumps. As usual when you have a choice, go for the highest scoring denomination, which is No-trumps. East will lead the }Q and

declarer can make…? Well, the answer is all thirteen tricks. Care however must be taken with regard to cashing the tricks in the right order. Win the Club lead and then play off the Ace and King of one of the red suits (honours from the short suit first) followed by the rest of the tricks there. Now repeat the process with the other red suit. That’s the first eleven tricks and the top Spades are still to come. 13 tricks in No-trumps is worth 270 points.

Hand 6 Dealer East

[ 9 8 7 6 2 ] 4 { Q 10 9 8 6 } 9 5 [ K Q J 10 4 N [ A 3 ] A 5

W E ] K Q J 10 6

{ 5 3 2 { A 7 4 } 8 7 2 S } A K 3 [ 5 ] 9 8 7 3 2 { K J } Q J 10 6 4


These four deals (Hands 5–8) are very similar. This time East, holding 21 points, is declarer. As with the previous deal, one partnership has significantly more points than their opponents and once again the partnership should select No-trumps for a good score. South leads the }Q (top of a sequence) and

declarer should be able to make all the tricks. Winning the Club lead in hand declarer should play off the [A and follow with a low Spade, cashing all of

dummy’s five-card suit (Be careful. Do not throw a Heart away!). Now dummy can cash the ]A and

follow with all the Hearts and declarer will be left with two Aces as his last two cards. As in Hand 5, that’s worth 270 points.

Hand 7 Dealer South

[ K Q 4 ] A J 10 8 5 { 7 6 5 } 9 7 [ 9 7 6 3 2 N [ None ] None

W E ] 9 7 6 3 2

{ Q J 10 9 2 { 8 4 3 } Q 10 4 S } K J 8 6 2 [ A J 10 8 5 ] K Q 4 { A K } A 5 3


Now you can see the theme you can understand the point of this hand. South is declarer and North-South have to make all thirteen tricks in No-trumps. Of course, you might select Spades or Hearts as trumps but you should always aim for the best score. This time the opening lead is the {Q (top of a sequence)

and declarer should count his tricks. Five Hearts, five Spades and three top tricks in Clubs and Diamonds makes thirteen. What can go wrong? Well, you just have to be careful to play the suits in the right order. That is, when cashing your tricks in Hearts and Spades you must play the King and Queen off first, followed by the low card. Same principle as in Hands 5 and 6 with, hopefully, the same result.

Hand 8 Dealer West

[ None ] Q J 10 9 { 9 8 7 5 3 } 10 5 4 3 [ K J 6 N [ A Q 10 7 3 ] A K 6 2

W E ] 7

{ A J 10 4 2 { K Q 6 } A S } 8 7 6 2 [ 9 8 5 4 2 ] 8 5 4 3 { None } K Q J 9


No surprises then, given the other three hands in this small section, to find West with a very good hand. For similar reasons No-trumps should be the selected denomination and thirteen tricks should be the aim. North will lead the ]Q and declarer should

be able to see five Spade tricks, five Diamond tricks and three top tricks in the form of the Ace-King of Hearts and the }A. So, win the Heart lead, cash the

[K and the [J (play the honours from the short suit

first), cash the rest of the Spades (do not throw Diamonds away! The small Hearts are rubbish and can be chucked), play off the {K and the {Q and

finally follow with the rest of the Diamonds. That should bring home the bacon.


§7. Full Minibridge scoring and target setting. We now introduce the idea of setting targets for declarer and how declarer can aim to gain a high score. In practice, declarer sets himself targets for the number of tricks he is to make and in doing so he will also set targets for his opponents. Henceforth, the opponents of declarer will be known as the defenders (or the defence). We still use the table below (repeated for clarity) to calculate scores:

No-trumps NT 40 points for seven tricks then an extra 30 points for every trick above seven.

Spades Hearts

[ ] } 30 points for every trick taken above six.

Diamonds Clubs

{ } } 20 points for every trick taken above six.

So far we have looked at bonuses of 50 available to declarer (and his partner). So, for example, making eight tricks in Spades would be worth 110 points, made up from 60 points for tricks (2 × 30) and a bonus of 50. Now we add a twist to the game. If declarer can make (and predict) a trick score of 100+ points then he is entitled to a bonus of 300 points (instead of 50 points). To clarify: Making ten tricks in Spades will give declarer a trick score of 120 points (4 × 30). Making only nine tricks in Spades will net only 90 points. To get the 300 point bonus declarer has to predict that he will make ten tricks in Spades and then make his prediction come true. If he fails then he will hand 50 points (or more) to his opponents. The way it works in practice is that declarer must nominate a Game or a Part-score as well as choosing the trump suit (or No-trumps). This means that declarer has to foresee how many tricks (roughly) his side will make.

Games are deals where declarer can score 100+ points in tricks alone.

Part-Scores are deals where declarer feels unable to take enough tricks to score 100+ points.

A small piece of mental arithmetic will show you that Games are: 9 tricks in No-trumps worth 100 points (40 + 30 + 30).

10 tricks in Spades or Hearts worth 120 points (4 30).

11 tricks in Clubs or Diamonds worth 100 points (5 20) Lower numbers of tricks than these are all Part-scores. A simple example would be ten tricks in Clubs (worth 80 points). So, for example, if declarer nominates Clubs as trumps and reckons his side could make no more than, for example, nine tricks he will say “Part-score in Clubs”. So, to be absolutely clear, after dummy is displayed declarer has to make two choices: Firstly, declarer has to select the strain (a trump suit or No-trumps) and…

Secondly, declarer has to say whether he is going for Game or going for a Part-score. When these details have been settled the play phase commences in the normal fashion: the player to declarer’s left (one of the defenders) makes the opening lead and declarer has to make (at least) as many tricks as he has said.


It is worth pointing out that both sides (declarer and dummy on the one hand and the defenders on the other) have a target number of tricks. If, for example, declarer has stipulated “Game in Hearts” then his target is ten tricks. The defenders’ target is four tricks. Can you see why? If declarer is playing for a Part-score he must make at least seven tricks. This is exactly the same version of the game that we have been playing to date. The target for both sides (declarer – dummy and the defenders) is seven tricks. If declarer has nominated a Game then he must make at least 9, 10 or 11 tricks depending on which strain the deal is played in. Failure to make the stipulated number of tricks will result in declarer conceding a penalty. Note that dummy has no part to play – the responsibility for playing dummy’s cards and for nominating both the trump suit (or No-trumps) and the level remains with declarer. The table below shows you the score that you will achieve if you declare a Game. Compare this with the table for part-scores that was printed on page 15 (and which is copied here below). Which table you use depends on declarer’s choice of Game or Part-score.

Scoring table if Game is nominated.


0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

NT -450 -400 -350 -300 -250 -200 -150 -100 -50 400 430 460 490 520

[

] -500 -450 -400 -350 -300 -250 -200 -150 -100 -50 420 450 480 510

{ }

-550 -500 -450 -400 -350 -300 -250 -200 -150 -100 -50 400 420 440

Scoring table if Part-score is nominated.


0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

NT -350 -300 -250 -200 -150 -100 -50 90 120 150 180 210 240 270

[

] -350 -300 -250 -200 -150 -100 -50 80 110 140 170 200 230 260

{ }

-350 -300 -250 -200 -150 -100 -50 70 90 110 130 150 170 190

Remember, if you have declared a Game, then you are entitled to a bonus of 300 points if you achieve your aim. However, if you fail to make the requisite number of tricks (9, 10 or 11, depending on the strain) you will concede a penalty of 50 points for every trick you are short.


Hands for §7: Complete scoring.

Hand 1 Dealer North

[ 10 8 3 2 ] A K 7 5 { 6 4 } A 7 2 [ 7 4 N [ 9 ] Q J 10 9

W E ] 6 4 2

{ 10 8 7 2 { K Q J 5 3 } J 9 8 S } K Q 10 3 [ A K Q J 6 5 ] 8 3 { A 9 } 6 5 4


From a play perspective this is a very easy hand. South (declarer) can see that Spades is the obvious trump suit (there is a ten-card fit) with ten easy, ready-made tricks (six Spades, two Hearts and two Aces). Well, the added edge to the game at this stage is that you have to be able to predict the outcome of a hand. If South opted for a Part-score in Spades he would be entitled to a score of 170 points having making ten tricks. Since, however, ten tricks

in Spades is worth 120 points (4 30) this deal is actually a Game hand, not a Part-score hand. If South correctly nominates Game in Spades he can make 420 points for his side rather than a miserable score of 170.

Hand 2 Dealer East

[ J 9 8 3 2 ] 7 3 2 { 8 7 } K Q J [ 10 7 5 N [ None ] Q J 5

W E ] A K 6 4

{ Q 10 3 { A K J 9 6 4 } A 9 5 2 S } 10 7 3 [ A K Q 6 4 ] 10 9 8 { 5 2 } 8 6 4


East becomes declarer and it is obvious to make Diamonds trumps (isn’t it?) There is, after all, a very good Diamond fit on the East-West cards. No-trumps is out of the question as the opponents can take five Spade tricks (East-West have no stopper there). Now, how many tricks can you see as declarer (East)? As Diamonds only score 20 points per trick you have to be able to make eleven tricks for a

Game (5 20). Can you see them? Actually, the answer is yes – you have six Diamond tricks, four Hearts and a Club. So the right call is Game in Diamonds netting East-West 400 points if successful. Playing the hand in part-score in Diamonds would be worth a mere 150 points.

Hand 3 Dealer South

[ A 7 4 ] K Q J 9 7 { A K Q } J 5 [ 9 5 2 N [ Q J 10 8 ] 8 5

W E ] 4 2

{ 10 6 5 4 { 8 7 2 } 9 8 7 6 S } A K Q 2 [ K 6 3 ] A 10 6 3 { J 9 3 } 10 4 3


North becomes declarer and Hearts will surely be nominated as trumps as there is a good nine-card fit in that suit. Now, you need ten tricks in Hearts to make Game in Hearts (worth 120 points for tricks,

made up from 4 30). Can declarer see his way to make the requisite ten tricks? Well, he should be able to – there are five Heart tricks, two Spade tricks and three Diamond tricks. That all adds up to a nomination of Game in Hearts, scoring 420 if successful. If declarer were to opt for a safe but dull Part-score he would record the same ten tricks but that would only be worth a pathetic 170 points to North-South.

Hand 4 Dealer West

[ K Q J 10 ] Q 10 8 5 { 3 } 10 9 8 4 [ 9 7 6 N [ A 8 4 2 ] A 6 4

W E ] K 9 7 3

{ A K Q J 10 { 5 } J 2 S } A 7 6 5 [ 5 3 ] J 2 { 9 8 7 6 4 2 } K Q 3


West’s turn to be declarer. Now, what suit do you want to play in? You have no fit between the hands but those Diamonds do look magnificent. However, Diamonds are low scoring (20 points a trick) so you need to be able to take eleven tricks to make a Game. Let’s see – there are five Diamond tricks one Spade, two Hearts and a Club trick on top. That’s only nine tricks, though, so the best call seems to be “part-score in Diamonds”. Wait a minute, though, those nine tricks are available in No-trumps as well as in Diamonds and No-trumps scores much better. So much better, in fact, that nine tricks is all you need for Game in No-trumps. That should be the nomination.


Hands for §7: Complete scoring.

Hand 5 Dealer North

[ K Q J 9 ] 10 8 2 { 9 3 } J 9 6 2 [ A 5 4 2 N [ 10 8 ] A 6 4 3

W E ] J 7

{ J 8 { A K Q 10 7 6 } A 8 5 S } 10 7 3 [ 7 6 3 ] K Q 9 5 { 5 4 2 } K Q 4


West to become declarer and to make the choices. Now, what trump suit? What level? What can West predict if Diamonds are trumps? Yes, six Diamonds and three Aces for nine tricks. That isn’t a Game, though, as eleven tricks are needed in Diamonds to make a Game. So, Part-score in Diamonds, then? Absolutely not! That would be cowardly. These nine tricks are readily available in No-trumps as well as in Diamonds so the right call is Game in No-trumps. If (actually, when) nine tricks roll in after the [K lead

East-West can claim a score of 400 points as compared with the 110 points available in Part-score in Diamonds. Of course, Game in Diamonds is hopeless and will fail by two tricks.

Hand 6 Dealer East

[ J 9 8 5 ] 7 4 2 { 6 3 } J 9 8 5 [ 10 3 N [ K Q ] K Q J 10

W E ] A 9 8 6

{ K 9 8 4 { A Q J 7 5 } 7 6 4 S } 10 2 [ A 7 6 4 2 ] 5 3 { 10 2 } A K Q 3


East is declarer and has to choose trumps. Well, Diamonds looks obvious with a nine-card fit. What about winners? Well, it should be easy to see that declarer has just ten winners (one Spade after the [A has been knocked out, four Hearts, five

Diamonds and no Clubs) and three losers. That’s not enough for Game in Diamonds. A Part-score, then? Maybe, but, there are the same ten tricks available if Hearts are trumps as well. And that is worth a Game as Game in Hearts requires just ten tricks. That, therefore, should become the nomination. Declarer has to be careful in the play, leading Hearts until neither North nor South has any left. This is a tricky and subtle hand.

Hand 7 Dealer South

[ K Q J 10 8 ] 5 4 { 8 3 2 } Q J 3 [ 2 N [ 9 7 6 4 ] K J 8 3 2

W E ] Q 10 9 7 6

{ A K Q J { 9 7 6 } 10 8 5 S } 9 [ A 5 3 ] A { 10 5 4 } A K 7 6 4 2


South is declarer so has to choose trumps. Clubs looks best (because there are nine of them between the two hands and only eight Spades). However, it should be easy to see that there are three losers (the three top Diamonds) and that scuppers any chance of making Game in Clubs. (You need eleven tricks in Clubs, remember, to make a Game so can only afford to lose two tricks). However, before settling for a dull Part-score in Clubs what about trying Spades as a trump suit? There are the three top losers as before but declarer is able to make the rest of the tricks – and ten tricks is sufficient for Game in Spades. That, therefore, should be the call and it will make 420 points if (when) successful.

Hand 8 Dealer West

[ A 6 4 2 ] A 3 2 { A 9 3 } A 10 9 [ K Q J 10 7 N [ 9 3 ] 9 6

W E ] K Q J 10 7 5

{ K 10 7 5 4 { Q J 8 } 7 S } 8 2 [ 8 5 ] 8 4 { 6 2 } K Q J 6 5 4 3


This hand illustrates the point that Clubs and Diamonds are the poor relations in this game. North is declarer and has to choose trumps. Clubs, anybody? Well, at 20 points a time you need to make eleven tricks for Game. Here there are seven Club tricks and three Aces, so you are a trick short with no prospects of an extra one in sight. Ho hum – Part-score in Clubs, then? Well, why not try No-trumps? There are the same ten tricks available and that is enough for Game. Actually, it’s one trick more than necessary. So the right call is Game in No-trumps and ten tricks will be rewarded with a score of 430 points. In Clubs the best you can do is part-score in Clubs with ten tricks being worth a mere 130 points.


§8: The play of the cards in No-trumps. General Approach: Almost all deals played at Bridge contain top tricks and suits that must be developed into tricks. Whenever dummy comes into view declarer should pause to consider the hand as a whole and count his tricks. Only if the contract is available in top tricks should declarer cash all his winners immediately. Usually declarer has to set up his tricks by developing a suit. Remember:

Count – Plan – Execute.

Here is an example deal, with South the declarer having nominated Game in No-trumps. West leads the ]2:

[ K 4 2 ] 9 7 5 { K J 8 3 } 9 6 4

Dummy

]2

W E

Declarer

[ A 9 3 ] A K Q { Q 10 9 2 } A 10 3

Count:

Declarer can see six top tricks (which are: the [A and [K, the ]A, ]K, and ]Q and the }A). Declarer

could cash these immediately but to do so would be poor play. In fact, little could be more wrong-headed since that would set up winners in the opponents hands. Top cards, in general, should be kept in order to regain the lead. It is the object of the defenders to dislodge your high cards – don’t help them along! Declarer needs, therefore, three tricks from somewhere else to make the total up to nine.

Plan:

Declarer aims to set up three tricks in Diamonds by knocking out the {A. In order to regain the lead

immediately after the opponents win the {A declarer must aim to keep stoppers in all suits so that he can

keep control of the hand. Little is worse in No-trumps than allowing the opponents to have the lead when you have a wide open suit.

Execute:

Declarer should win the opening Heart lead (he has little choice there but might select any of the ]A, ]K

or ]Q, which are all equals) and should immediately lead a Diamond. This will drive out the opponents’

{A and make the remaining three Diamonds all winners. He will win whatever the next lead is and be in

a position to cash three diamond tricks when it suits him. Declarer can lead any of the {Q, {10 or {9

from hand and play anything he likes from the dummy since (apart from the {2 and the {3) they are all

equals. The only losing line is to lead the {2 and play dummy’s {3, inviting the opponents to win the trick

with a low Diamond. You have to play a “big” Diamond to force out the {A.

Notice the importance of keeping high cards in order to regain the lead. Note also that the defender with the {A might refuse to play it early. That makes no difference – declarer can continue to play “high”

Diamonds, which will force out the {A eventually. Declarer is assured of three tricks in Diamonds in one

way or another.

Sometimes declarer has to knock out more than one high card. A small adjustment to the hand above gives the deal overleaf:


[ K 4 2 ] 9 7 5 { J 8 6 3 } K 6 4

Dummy

]2

W E

Declarer

[ A 9 3 ] A K Q { Q 10 9 2 } A 10 3

The principle of developing tricks remains the same. This time South can count seven top tricks. The plan is to win the Heart lead with the ]Q (or the ]K or the ]A, it makes no difference) and play a

Diamond immediately, with the aim of setting up two slow tricks there. Either West or East might win the Diamond lead with the {A or {K and lead anything back – declarer can win that trick and can patiently

continue with Diamonds to set up two tricks in the suit. Note again the idea of equals. It matters not whether South wins the first Heart lead with the ]A, ]K or

]Q as they are all equals. When leading Diamonds South can lead the {2 to dummy’s {8 (or {J) or he

can lead the {9, {10 or {Q and play dummy’s {3. This is because the {Q, {J, {10, {9, {8 are all equals.

In the following deal South (declarer) has to get his Spades going to make Game in No-trumps. This time you are allowed to see all four hands.

[ Q J 10 9 ] K 5

{ A 9 8 2 } 7 6 4

[ K 6 Dummy [ 8 7 5 2 ] Q 10

W E ] J 8 6 4 2

{ K J 4 3 { Q 6 } J 9 8 5 3 Declarer } 10 2

[ A 4 3 ] A 9 7 3 { 10 7 5 } A K Q

West leads the }5 (you will see why in the next chapter) and declarer stops to Count his tricks. There

are three Clubs, two Hearts one Diamond and a Spade. That makes seven top tricks in all, so two more are needed. The Plan is to make two extra tricks in Spades. The opponents have the [K (and are welcome to it) but

once that is out of the way the other Spades will be winners. So there will, in fact, be three Clubs, two Hearts, one Diamond and three Spades to take. Declarer knows he can win the Club lead with whichever card he pleases, after that the focus must be on Spades. South can lead off the [A and play

another Spade, forcing the [K. Then, with the Spades set up, there are sufficient tricks for Game.

Execute… Declarer wins the opening lead with the }Q, plays off the [A (every blue moon the [K will

appear on that. Not today, however) and concedes a Spade trick to the King. Whatever the defenders do next South is in control – he has stoppers in all the other suits so can regain the lead and cash his nine winners. By leading Spades early on this deal and retaining as many of his high cards as possible declarer is keeping control of as much of the hand as he can. This last point is important and needs reinforcement: High cards are there to regain the lead after setting up a suit. Cashing winners early is a real no-no at this game!


Hands for §8: Play in No-trumps.

Hand 1 Dealer North

[ A 2 ] K J 9 7 { A 5 3 2 } K 4 3 [ J 10 5 3 N [ 9 7 6 4 ] A 4 3

W E ] 6 5 2

{ K Q 9 4 { J 6 } 8 6 S } Q J 10 9 [ K Q 8 ] Q 10 8 { 10 8 7 } A 7 5 2


North becomes declarer and considers the two hands. He can see that there is no good trump suit so should choose No-trumps. Now declarer must count his tricks. There are two Club tricks, one Diamond trick, and three Spade tricks on top. Three more tricks can be set up in Hearts after the ]A has

been knocked out making nine tricks in all - hence declarer should nominate Game in No-trumps. East will lead the }Q (top of a sequence); declarer should

win trick one with either the }A or the }K (it doesn’t

matter) and should immediately play on Hearts to drive out the ]A. As all the Hearts are equals it

doesn’t really matter which order the Hearts are played in.

Hand 2 Dealer East

[ K Q 10 9 8 ] J 7 5 4 { 7 4 } A 6 [ 7 5 3 N [ A 6 2 ] K 3 2

W E ] A 10 8

{ 6 3 2 { A K Q } K Q 7 3 S } J 10 8 5 [ J 4 ] Q 9 6 { J 10 9 8 5 } 9 4 2


Declarer (East) has the two crucial decisions - what strain and what "level"? Clubs might just be chosen as trumps but there are two good reasons to try No-trumps. Firstly, the East-West hands are completely balanced. Secondly, Clubs (and Diamonds) are only worth 20 points a trick. East should see that he can make the same number of tricks in No-trumps. A Part-score in Clubs nets 110, a Part-score in No-trumps nets 150. Not much difference, but if East chooses "Game in No-trumps" (worth 400) it does become significant. The play? Win the {J lead and

immediately knock out the }A (by leading the }J) to

set up three Club tricks to go with three Diamonds, two Hearts and a Spade. That makes nine in all.

Hand 3 Dealer South

[ 7 6 4 ] A 5 3 { K 8 4 } Q J 6 2 [ 8 5 3 N [ Q J 10 9 ] Q J 10 9 2

W E ] 8 7 4

{ J 9 2 { Q 10 7 6 } A 5 S } 8 3 [ A K 2 ] K 6 { A 5 3 } K 10 9 7 4


South (declarer) may well have a strong temptation to make Clubs trumps. Temptations are there to be resisted, however, as tricks made with Clubs score poorly. It's the same old story. Both North and South’s hands are balanced so declarer should think of No-trumps. South can make ten tricks in No-trumps (the same number as in Clubs) after the }A

has been knocked out – he can see two Spades, two Hearts, two Diamonds and four Clubs. Declarer should win the ]Q lead and immediately play on

Clubs (knocking out the }A) to set up four Club tricks

to go with six top tricks elsewhere. If South has nominated "Game in No-trumps" this is worth 430 points. That is better than the 130 available in Clubs.

Hand 4 Dealer West

[ Q J 10 9 8 2 ] 9 4 { A 9 } 10 8 5 [ A K 5 N [ 6 4 ] K 6 3

W E ] A 8 7 2

{ K 5 4 2 { Q J 10 3 } Q 9 3 S } A K 2 [ 7 3 ] Q J 10 5 { 8 7 6 } J 7 6 4


West (declarer) may opt for Diamonds to be trumps. However, as in Hands 2 and 3, No-trumps provides a higher scoring spot. In No-trumps declarer can see his way to ten tricks (two Spades, two Hearts and three Clubs “on top” and three Diamonds after the {A

has been knocked out,). North leads the [Q so West

should win that (with either the [K or the [A) and

switch his attention to Diamonds. Here, West can please himself whether he leads the {K or plays a

small Diamond to dummy’s {10 (or {J or {Q) as the

Diamond honours are equals. By continuing with high Diamonds the {A is driven out and three

Diamond tricks are established, allowing Game in No-trumps to succeed.


Hands for §8: Play in No-trumps.

Hand 5 Dealer North

[ A K Q ] K 9 { Q 10 8 6 } Q J 7 3 [ 6 4 3 2 N [ J 10 9 8 ] Q 8 5 2

W E ] J 7 6 3

{ A 5 3 2 { 4 } 6 S } A 9 4 2 [ 7 5 ] A 10 4 { K J 9 7 } K 10 8 5


North (declarer) must choose what to do. Clubs and Diamonds may look attractive as trumps but think of the scoring. In Clubs (or Diamonds) eleven tricks is worth 150 or 400 points depending on whether North went for a Game or a Part-score. However, the same number of tricks is available in No-trumps for 210 points or 460 points, depending on the nomination. So, Game in No-trumps it must be. East leads the [J (top of a sequence) and declarer should go about

knocking out the two Aces in Clubs and Diamonds to make eleven tricks. Win the Spade lead, play a Diamond to West’s {A, win the return, play a Club to

East. Declarer is in control now and can win any further lead from East to make the rest of the tricks.

Hand 6 Dealer East

[ 7 3 2 ] Q 10 7 6 5 2 { A 4 } A 3 [ K 5 N [ A Q 4 ] K 8 3

W E ] A 4

{ K J 9 7 6 { Q 10 8 } Q 10 8 S } K J 9 7 6 [ J 10 9 8 6 ] J 9 { 5 3 2 } 5 4 2


A similar theme to Hand 5 – declarer (East) might choose Diamonds or Clubs to be trumps. But remember the scoring! The same number of tricks is available in No-trumps as it is in either Clubs or Diamonds, provided declarer plays the hand properly by knocking out the two opposition Aces. If East opts for Game in No-trumps (as he should) then South will lead the [J (top of a sequence). Now, declarer

should win that with dummy’s [K and immediately

play on either Clubs or Diamonds, knocking out the Ace of that suit. Regaining the lead after this declarer can knock out the other Ace and eventually make eleven tricks for a score of 460 points. This beats 400 points for Game in Diamonds (or Clubs).

Hand 7 Dealer South

[ 4 3 2 ] J 9 8 { A 10 8 5 } J 6 5 [ J 10 9 8 7 N [ 6 5 ] A K

W E ] 7 4 3 2

{ 7 6 4 { Q J 9 } 8 7 3 S } A K 10 9 [ A K Q ] Q 10 6 5 { K 3 2 } Q 4 2


South (declarer) can see no decent trump suit after dummy is displayed. This is one reason (apart from the scoring) to choose No-trumps rather than a trump suit – there is no eight-card trump fit. South will be hard pushed to see the nine tricks on this deal he needs for a Game in No-trumps. So, Part-score in No-trumps it is and West leads the [J. Declarer can

see three top Spades and two top Diamonds and should be able to see that two extra tricks can eventually be developed in Hearts, although these are slow tricks. South takes the [Q and at once

plays a Heart to knock out one of the ]A K. Another

Spade lead is won and the other top Heart is knocked out. Declarer is safe for at least seven tricks now.

Hand 8 Dealer West

[ J 10 9 8 5 ] 10 9 7 { 7 } Q 6 5 3 [ K Q 3 N [ A 6 2 ] K J 5

W E ] Q 4 2

{ K 5 { Q J 10 9 6 } A 8 7 4 2 S } J 10 [ 7 4 ] A 8 6 3 { A 8 4 3 2 } K 9


West (declarer) might choose either Diamonds or Clubs as trumps but there are two very good reasons not to. One is that there is no eight-card trump fit and the other is that No-trumps outscores both Clubs and Diamonds. West can see a lot of tricks after the red Aces have been knocked out (three Spades, two Hearts, four Diamonds and a Club) so should take the proverbial bull by its horns and opt for Game in No-trumps. North leads the [J and declarer’s first

play, after winning that in his own hand, is to lead the {K. This conforms to two principles – one being to

knock out Aces, the second being to play honours from the short suit first. This way declarer should emerge with at least nine tricks, and probably ten.


§9. Defence against No-trump contracts.

The defence to a No-trump nomination follows the same general principles as does declarer play – that is, the defenders lead their long suit hoping to make winners out of the small cards. The defenders’ top tricks are for regaining the lead so that the defenders can get on lead to cash their suit. The following deal shows a classic example of this idea. South has nominated Game in No-trumps. West leads a low Spade, in this case the [5.

[ 10 9 8 ] A J 7

{ Q J 10 9 5 } A 10

[ K J 6 5 2 Dummy [ Q 4 ] 10 8

W E ] 9 6 5 4 2

{ A 8 6 2 { 7 4 } 6 3 Declarer } Q J 9 4

[ A 7 3 ] K Q 3 { K 3 } K 8 7 5 2

Here, against Game in No-trumps by South, West leads his longest suit (Spades), hoping to set it up. This requires co-operation from East who must play his [Q on dummy’s [8 at trick one to knock out

declarer's stopper. South may choose not to part with his precious [A so East must keep up the good

work by returning his partner's suit. South can only see six top tricks (a Spade, three Hearts and two Clubs) so must try to set up the Diamonds. Winning the [A South should immediately play the {K to

force out the {A. However, when West gains the lead with that card his Spades are all winners so the

contract is defeated. The opening lead “rule” (against No-trump nominations, anyway) is usually:

Lead the 4th highest from your longest and strongest.

If, however, your long suit is headed by a three-card (or longer) sequence then it is normal to lead the top card. The following hand may explain why we do that. In the deal below (a rearrangement of the above deal, swapping West’s [6 with East’s [Q) the [5 lead

will give dummy a cheap trick with the [8 and will allow declarer to make as many as eleven tricks.

[ 10 9 8 ] A J 7

{ Q J 10 9 5 } A 10

[ K Q J 5 2 Dummy [ 6 4 ] 10 8

W E ] 9 6 5 4 2

{ A 8 6 2 { 7 4 } 6 3 Declarer } Q J 9 4

[ A 7 3 ] K Q 3 { K 3 } K 8 7 5 2

West does not need East to contribute a “high” Spade, however; the correct lead being the [K. This will

knock out the [A (if South refuses to part with his [A West will persist with the [Q and then another

Spade if necessary) and set up all of West’s suit. Declarer must play on Diamonds to set up enough tricks for his contract but this allows West to grab the trick with his {A and cash his Spades. The defence

cannot be denied four Spade tricks and a Diamond for one down. Many No-trump deals are races between the defenders and declarer – each side trying to set up a suit. The one advantage the defenders have is that they get to go first in the race.


If you hold a sequence you may argue that you can lead any of the cards within it as they are all equals. True – but you have a partner in this game and it is usually a good idea to try to tell him what is going on. By leading a “high” card (and here we usually mean a Ten or higher) we are telling partner that we have a sequence headed by that card. So we are expressly denying that we hold the card immediately above the one we lead. (So, f’rinstance, if we lead the [J we cannot hold the [Q).

The table below show the correct card to lead when defending against No-trumps from some miscellaneous card combinations:

1. K Q J 10 2. K Q 8 3 3. Q 10 8 6 4. A Q 7 5

5. K Q J 6 3 6. Q J 7 5 2 7. K 9 8 6 4 8. 10 9 8 7 4

9. Q J 10 6 4 3 10. A J 8 5 3 2 11. A K 8 6 3 2 12. J 10 9 7 3 2

13. A Q 9 8 7 14. J 5 4 3 2 15. A K Q 7 5 16. J 10 7 5 4

Rather than try and commit these somewhat arbitrary examples to memory just note the basic rules:

With a broken suit, lead the fourth card down from the top.

(Often known as: “The fourth highest of your longest and strongest.”) With a suit headed by a run (a three-card or longer sequence) lead the top card. In the final deal of this section the defenders must co-operate to defeat Game in No-trumps.

[ K Q J 8 ] A K 4

{ 6 4 3 } 10 8 5

[ 6 4 Dummy [ A 9 7 3 2 ] 5

W E ] Q J 10 9 8

{ A J 8 5 2 { Q 7 } 9 7 6 4 2 Declarer } 3

[ 10 5 ] 7 6 3 2 { K 10 9 } A K Q J

Against a nomination of Game in No-trumps West leads the fourth highest of his longest and strongest (in this case that’s the {5) on which East must play his {Q. South has to win the first trick with the {K

and should take stock by counting his tricks. Declarer can count six top tricks (four Clubs and two Hearts) to go with the Diamond trick already in the bank. That means South has seven easily available winners but needs two more. The plan must be to set up (at least) two more in Spades – once the [A is out of the way there are three Spade tricks for the

taking. So, South should play the [10 at trick two in an attempt to drive out the [A, setting up the three

Spade honours on the table. Now, East’s duty is clear. He should win his [A and lead back a Diamond. It would be poor defence to

switch suits by leading a Heart (although, admittedly, that is East’s best suit). When your partner leads a suit against No-trumps it is generally wise to lead it back when you get the chance. Here, all of West’s four remaining Diamonds are winners (even the lowly {2!) and Game in No-trumps is defeated.

Partners must co-operate at this game.

Bridge is a partnership game!


Hands for §9: Playing against No-trumps.

Hand 1 Dealer North

[ A 8 5 ] 7 6 4 2 { Q 10 8 } A K J [ Q 6 N [ K J 9 7 4 2 ] J 10 9 8 3

W E ] A

{ 7 4 2 { A 5 3 } 10 9 7 S } 8 3 2 [ 10 3 ] K Q 5 { K J 9 6 } Q 6 5 4


Looking at two balanced hands, declarer (North) should choose Part-score in No-trumps. That looks reasonable but East-West can foil him. East should his longest suit and, as his Spades are broken, he should lead a low card. It actually matters little whether he leads the [7, the [4 or the [2 but for

good reasons he should select the [7 (the fourth

highest card). West must co-operate with his partner by playing his [Q. Declarer could win the [A and

knock out the {A but East can cash all of his long

Spades. East-West can make five Spades and two Aces, making North concede a penalty. If the [Q

wins at trick one (North doesn’t have to win the [A)

West must return his partner’s suit at trick two.

Hand 2 Dealer East

[ 7 6 ] 10 { A Q 7 5 4 2 } 9 5 4 3 [ K 9 4 2 N [ Q 5 3 ] A K 6

W E ] Q 8 4 2

{ K 9 { J 10 6 } Q 10 7 2 S } K J 8 [ A J 10 8 ] J 9 7 5 3 { 8 3 } A 6


Declarer (West) opts for a Part-score in No-trumps as there is no attractive trump suit and no eight-card fit. North's best lead is a low Diamond; the fourth highest for choice. West can win that cheaply (with the {9) but danger looms large. Declarer has to

knock out the }A but when he does so South will win

that card and return his partner’s suit by leading his last Diamond. Now all of North’s long Diamonds are winners so that player can happily cash the whole suit while an unhappy declarer can do little but throw good cards away. Length (of suits) is often the key to No-trumps, not necessarily strength. The defenders will take five Diamond tricks and two Aces, making seven tricks, forcing a penalty of 50 points.

Hand 3 Dealer South

[ J 6 ] 10 9 7 6 2 { 8 6 2 } A 10 6 [ 7 3 N [ A K 9 ] K Q 5 4

W E ] J 8

{ Q 10 9 { K J 5 3 } K 9 4 3 S } J 8 5 2 [ Q 10 8 5 4 2 ] A 3 { A 7 4 } Q 7


East is declarer and nominates Part-score in No-trumps. From East's perspective things look simple; there seem to be three Diamonds and two Hearts after the red Aces have been knocked out. However, things do not go according to plan... South leads a low Spade, the [5 to be precise, and North plays the

[J to force out a top Spade from East. On regaining

the lead with the {A (declarer should play on

Diamonds at trick two) South can lead the [Q (now

the [J has gone the [Q 10 act as a sequence) to

knock out the other top Spade. East can cash some Diamonds now but South has four Spades to cash when on lead with the ]A. North-South make four

Spade tricks and three Aces to gain 50 points.

Hand 4 Dealer West

[ J 10 7 2 ] 10 4 { K Q 7 2 } 7 4 3 [ 9 4 N [ A 8 6 3 ] A K 6 5 3 2

W E ] 8 7

{ 6 4 3 { A 9 5 } 8 5 S } J 10 9 6 [ K Q 5 ] Q J 9 { J 10 8 } A K Q 2


South (declarer) opts for a Part-score in No-trumps as there is no decent trump suit to play in. That’s right in theory, wrong in practice as a Heart lead from West is a killer. Again, with a broken suit (a suit headed by just the ]A and the ]K does not count as

a suit headed by a sequence), West should lead his fourth highest, the ]5. South will win that cheaply

with the ]9 and should immediately knock out an

Ace, let's say he chooses Spades. East can win his [A and must return his partner’s suit by leading his

last Heart. All West’s Hearts are set up as winners now so West can happily cash the lot. East-West can take five Heart tricks and two Aces, making a total of seven tricks and a score of 50 points.


Hands for §9: Playing against No-trumps.

Hand 5 Dealer North

[ K J 8 ] 7 5 3 2 { K Q 4 } A 4 2 [ A 9 6 5 3 N [ 7 ] A 9

W E ] J 10 8 4

{ 9 7 3 2 { A 6 5 } K 6 S } Q J 7 5 3 [ Q 10 4 2 ] K Q 6 { J 10 8 } 10 9 8


Hands with 21 points playing 19 and no long suits are not easy to play – this hand illustrates why. North becomes declarer and nominates Part-score in No-trumps as there is no decent trump fit. East’s best lead is a low Club, to be precise the }5, as it is

the fourth highest of his longest suit. West must not be mean – he must play the }K to drive out the

opponents' }A. (If declarer were to withhold the }A

West would have to play another Club.) Now all of East’s Clubs are winners. When declarer drives out the [A West must play back a Club (returning his

partner’s suit). Now North-South can cash four Club tricks and three Aces, leaving declarer with only six tricks. Result – a 50 point penalty to East-West.

Hand 6 Dealer East

[ K 5 ] 10 7 6 4 3 2 { 7 5 } J 9 3 [ 10 9 3 N [ Q J 8 ] Q J 8

W E ] A K 5

{ Q 10 9 2 { K J 8 6 } K Q 6 S } A 4 2 [ A 7 6 4 2 ] 9 { A 4 3 } 10 8 7 5


East declares Game in No-trumps after he has carefully counted his tricks. He can see six tricks “on top” (three Hearts and three Clubs) and it is an easy matter to set up three Diamonds by knocking out the {A. What could possibly go wrong? Well, the answer

is that the opponents, North-South, get to go first and South, naturally enough, leads a low Spade – the [4

for choice. North wins the [K and returns a Spade at

trick two to South’s [A. South continues with

Spades, knocking out East’s [Q and setting up the

last two Spades as winners (the [6 2). When East

leads a Diamond South can win that with the {A and

can cash the last two Spades while East looks on sorrowfully. One trick short: 50 points to North-South.

Hand 7 Dealer South

[ K 4 2 ] A K J { 8 5 3 } 7 5 3 2 [ 10 8 5 3 N [ Q J 9 ] 8 6 5 2

W E ] 7 4 3

{ K J 7 6 2 { A 4 } None S } 10 9 8 6 4 [ A 7 6 ] Q 10 9 { Q 10 9 } A K Q J


South declares Game in No-trumps after he has counted his tricks. He can see nine tricks “on top” (two Spades, three Hearts and four Clubs) so this appears to be a cake-walk. Not so! Here, the Diamonds lie in a particularly malevolent way so that East-West can take the first five Diamond tricks. West, naturally enough, leads the fourth highest of his longest suit (the {6) and East takes the {A to

return a Diamond. South has no winning option now. It doesn’t matter whether he tries the {10 or the {Q

as West sits after him with the jaws of the {K J,

waiting to snap shut. All of West’s Diamonds are good and he has the first five tricks to cash. Hard luck, South. A 50 point penalty to East-West.

Hand 8 Dealer West

[ 5 4 2 ] Q 7 5 4 2 { 6 2 } A 6 4 [ A K N [ J 9 7 ] K J 10

W E ] 9 8 6

{ K 8 3 { A Q 4 } Q 10 9 7 2 S } K J 8 5 [ Q 10 8 6 3 ] A 3 { J 10 9 7 5 } 3


West declarers Game in No-trumps after he counts his tricks and appears to see nine of them. There are, apparently, two Spades, three Diamonds and four Clubs (once the }A has been knocked out) and

maybe a Heart trick or two if the opponents lead that suit. Well, that’s the theory. And the practice? Well, North leads a low Heart (the ]4) which South wins

win the ]A to return the ]3. West can suit himself

now – suppose he tries the ]J; North wins the ]Q

and continues the Heart attack. When the ]K has

won trick three the two remaining Heart tiddlers in the North hand are winners. On gaining the lead with the }A North can cash them, making four Hearts and

the }A in all for a penalty of 50 points.


§10. Making use of favourable breaks. The art of making tricks in No-trumps is not only by weight of high cards but also by setting up low cards in a suit. We have already seen hands where the opponents’ high cards have been knocked out to establish a suit. Sometimes we can make tricks by taking advantage of the way a suit breaks.

In the example below, the Club suit will always provide five tricks, no matter how the remaining Clubs are distributed between East and West (using the jargon: no matter how the suit breaks):

} 4 3 2

Dummy

W E Declarer

} A K Q J 10

If we weaken this combination (by replacing the }10 with the }5) North-South are still likely to make five

tricks: } 4 3 2

Dummy

W E Declarer

} A K Q J 5

By playing off the top cards we hope that East and West run out of Clubs, setting up the }5 as a trick.

However, if one opponent were to have all five missing Clubs (in other words: if the Clubs were to break 5–0) then there would be only four tricks available. It is worth noting that the chances of a 5–0 break are very low.

If we weaken the suit combination further (replacing the }J with the }6) we have the following layout: } 4 3 2

Dummy

W E Declarer

} A K Q 6 5

Here, in order to make five tricks, North-South need the unseen five cards in Clubs to break 3–2 (for the actuaries that will happen roughly two thirds of the time). When South cashes the }A K Q he hopes to

exhaust East and West of Clubs. If either West or East were to hold four cards in Clubs (or even all five Clubs) North-South cannot make five tricks. (If the suit splits 4–1 they might still make four tricks in the suit but would have to lose a trick in the process). Let us put these ideas into a simple deal. South has nominated Game in No-trumps and West has led the {K.

[ A K 6 4 2 ] 6 5 2 { 6 3 } J 8 5

Dummy

{K

W E

Declarer

[ 5 3 ] A K Q 4 3 { A 7 } A 6 3 2

What do you make of South’s chances in his attempt to make nine tricks in No-trumps? How should he go about the play?


West’s lead of the {K succeeds in removing South’s stopper in the suit by knocking out the {A. There

are seven top tricks on this hand but declarer cannot afford to lose the lead – if he does, East-West will hit him with an avalanche of Diamonds. The only hope (actually, a decent chance) is to trust that the Heart suit can provide five tricks. Accordingly, declarer must play off two top Hearts. If both opponents follow suit to two rounds the contract is secure – the suit must be breaking 3–2. In that case the third top Heart is cashed and the ]4

and ]3 are both winners. And if one opponent shows out on the first or second Heart? Then the suit is

breaking badly (Hearts are splitting 5–0 or 4–1) and, put simply, South is doomed to failure on the hand. C’est la vie. In point of fact, South may well fail by two tricks and concede a penalty of 100 points.

There are other combinations that are worthy of study. For example, in the example below there are five tricks available provided the four missing Clubs do not break 4–0:

} 5 4 3 2

Dummy

W E Declarer

} A K Q 7 6

In the next example North-South will make five tricks if the Club suit breaks 3–3. If the six missing Clubs are 4–2 then East-West will be entitled to a trick.

} 5 4

Dummy

W E Declarer

} A K Q 3 2

In the final example North-South might make five tricks if the four missing Clubs obligingly split 2–2. If they were to break 3–1 then a trick would have to be lost and if Clubs were 4–0 (actually quite unlikely) North-South would have to lose two tricks.

} 5 4 3 2

Dummy

W E Declarer

} A K 8 7 6

Short quiz. In these combinations how many tricks are certain and how many tricks are possible? 1. } 3 2 2. } 6 5 4 3 3. } 6 5 4. } 4

Dummy

Dummy

Dummy

Dummy

W E W E W E W E

Declarer Declarer Declarer Declarer

} A K Q 6 5 4 } A K Q 2 } A K Q J 2 } A K Q 5 3 2

Answers

1. 3 certain, 6 possible.

The }A K Q are certain tricks. If Clubs break 3–2 there will be six tricks in all. If the suit breaks 4–1

you may (given time) make five tricks and if the suit breaks 5–0 you may eventually make four tricks.


The }A K Q are certain tricks. If Clubs break 3–2 the }6 will become a winner. If the suit breaks 4–1

or 5–0 you will only ever make the three top tricks you had to start with.


The }A K Q J are certain tricks. If Clubs break 3–3 or 4–2 the }2 will be left as the last, winning, card

in the suit. If the suit breaks 5–1 or 6–0 you will only ever make the four top tricks you had at the start.


The }A K Q are certain tricks. If Clubs break 3–3 there will be six tricks. If the suit breaks 4–2 you

may eventually make five tricks. If the suit breaks 5–1 you may make four tricks. If there is a 6–0 break you can only make the }A K Q.


Hands for §10: Suit breaks.

Hand 1 Dealer North

[ Q J 10 9 ] J 10 9 { 10 7 5 } 9 6 3 [ A 7 5 2 N [ K 3 ] 4 2

W E ] A K Q 6 5 3

{ K 8 6 3 { A 4 } J 10 8 S } 7 5 2 [ 8 6 4 ] 8 7 { Q J 9 2 } A K Q 4


East has to judge the level on this deal, Hearts being the obvious trump suit (although there is a case to play in No-trumps). Now, should declarer try for a Game or a Part-score? Well, that depends on how many Heart tricks are available. If there are six tricks in Hearts then declarer has ten easy tricks (two Spades, six Hearts and two Diamonds) and three obvious losers in Clubs. So.... Game or Part-score? Well, the Hearts will provide six tricks whenever they break 3–2 and this will happen roughly two thirds of the time. It is good play to nominate Game in Hearts and risk a penalty on a 4–1 or, horror of horrors, a 5–0 Heart break. As the cards lie declarer’s enterprise is worth a reward of 420 points.

Hand 2 Dealer East

[ 7 6 3 ] A 5 { A K Q J 3 } K 4 2 [ A 8 5 N [ K Q 4 ] 8 4 3

W E ] Q J 10 9 7

{ 10 9 6 4 { 5 2 } J 9 6 S } Q 10 8 [ J 10 9 2 ] K 6 2 { 8 7 } A 7 5 3


How many top tricks can North count in No-trumps on this hand? (Diamonds are for wimps!) Declarer can see two Hearts, four Diamonds and two Clubs for eight tricks. Now, what about a ninth trick? Easy if the opponents cash three top Spades leaving the [J

as a winner but if they keep leading Hearts…? Well, what about the fifth Diamond? That will be a winner every time Diamonds break 3–3 or 4–2 and only won’t be a trick if the suit breaks 5–1 or 6–0. Now it isn’t surprising that the odds suggest that a 3–3 or 4–2 break is very likely, leaving South very unlucky if he can’t cash nine tricks in No-trumps. The right call, therefore, is Game in No-trumps, risking a penalty only if Diamonds break in a very unfriendly way.

Hand 3 Dealer South

[ J 8 4 ] 9 { A K 9 7 6 4 } Q 6 3 [ Q 10 7 6 3 N [ 9 5 2 ] K J 8 3

W E ] Q 10 5

{ 10 2 { J 8 5 } 8 4 S } A K 10 5 [ A K ] A 7 6 4 2 { Q 3 } J 9 7 2


South may just opt for the safety of a Part-score in Diamonds on this deal. However, you should note that there are nine tricks available in No-trumps if the Diamonds make six tricks. For this to happen Diamonds have to break 3–2 and that is a likely event. So, timid players will choose Part-score in Diamonds whereas intrepid players will opt for Game in No-trumps. On this lie of the cards it pays to be aggressive as Game in No-trumps scores 400 whereas Part-score in Diamonds would net only 110. Incidentally, declarer must not forget to play Diamonds in the right order – that is by leading the {Q first (play the honours from the short suit first). If

South rejects this hoary advice he will fail.

Hand 4 Dealer West

[ Q J 10 8 3 ] Q 7 2 { A K 10 4 } J [ A K N [ 5 2 ] A K 5

W E ] 9 8

{ J 9 7 5 2 { 8 6 3 } K 9 4 S } A Q 7 6 3 2 [ 9 7 6 4 ] J 10 6 4 3 { Q } 10 8 5


South has the choice of playing in a safe Part-score in Clubs or going for a higher reward by calling Game in No-trumps. Declarer can count the requisite nine (actually ten) tricks in No-trumps if Clubs break 2–2 or 3–1 (six Clubs, two Spades and two Hearts). So – are you a man or a mouse? The mice will opt for Part-score in Clubs (scoring 130 points when that makes ten tricks) whereas the men will score a much more impressive 430 points by nominating Game in No-trumps. Note that the chances of the Clubs not breaking 4–0 is very high and easily justifies the small risk of trying for Game. Note also, as in Hand 3, declarer should play off the }K first when cashing

the suit. (Play the honours from the short suit first).


Hands for §10: Suit breaks.

Hand 5 Dealer North

[ 10 8 7 5 3 ] J 10 9 7 { Q } 6 4 2 [ K J 2 N [ A Q 9 ] 4 2

W E ] A K Q 6 5 3

{ 6 5 4 2 { A K 8 } 10 8 7 3 S } 5 [ 6 4 ] 8 { J 10 9 7 3 } A K Q J 9


East has a massive hand of 22 points. Surely there must be a Game available in Hearts? Let’s count the tricks. Three in Spades, two in Diamonds, none in Clubs. What about Hearts? Well, there may be six tricks if the suit splits 3–2 or five tricks with a 4–1 break. That’s enough for ten tricks (or eleven, with a friendly split) so East should confidently call Game in Hearts. As the cards lie, there is a trump loser in that North must come to a trick in Hearts. Still, East can easily make the requisite number of tricks for Game. Note that only a 5–0 break in Hearts would have defeated the attempt to make Game in Hearts as that would have meant four losers (two Hearts, a Diamond and a Club). An unlikely break, though.

Hand 6 Dealer East

[ K Q J 10 3 ] 9 { 10 8 7 } J 10 8 6 [ A 5 N [ 6 2 ] A 4 2

W E ] J 7 6 3

{ A K Q 4 3 { 6 2 } 9 7 4 S } A K Q 5 2 [ 9 8 7 4 ] K Q 10 8 5 { J 9 5 } 3


What is the best call here for declarer (West)? Game in Clubs is dodgy ; making eleven tricks is always a tough task anyway. What about No-trumps? West can see eight top tricks (a Spade, a Heart, three Diamonds and three Clubs) and has a ninth if the Clubs or the Diamonds can be set up. Five tricks in Clubs needs a 3–2 break – a good chance. Also, Diamonds might break 3–3, giving declarer a possible five tricks there. So the right call is Game in No-trumps, has two strings in its bow. Declarer wins the opening lead of the [K and can test the

Clubs. When they prove to lie badly (breaking 4–1) he can fall back on Diamonds, which happen to lie well. Job done.

Hand 7 Dealer South

[ A 9 5 ] K 4 { 8 6 3 } K Q J 6 3 [ 10 8 7 4 2 N [ 6 3 ] 7 6 3

W E ] Q J 10 8 2

{ A K Q { 7 4 2 } A 9 S } 10 8 7 [ K Q J ] A 9 5 { J 10 9 5 } 5 4 2


How many tricks can North see on this deal? Of course, declarer could choose Clubs as trumps but that’s timid as it is obvious that you cannot make Game in Clubs (there are three Diamonds to lose as well as the }A). What about No-trumps? Well, Game

in No-trumps is a possibility if Clubs break 3–2. On such a favourable break there are four Club tricks to go with three Spades and two Hearts. So, although there is a risk of a bad Club break, declarer should nominate Game in No-trumps. East leads the ]Q

and declarer should win that with the ]A to play on

Clubs. When the }A is knocked out declarer will find

that he does indeed have four Club tricks and nine in all. This will result in a score of 400 points.

Hand 8 Dealer West

[ 10 8 7 5 ] K 2 { J 7 } Q 8 7 4 2 [ Q 3 N [ K 9 6 4 2 ] Q 10 8 4 3

W E ] J 9 7

{ A 10 { 9 3 2 } K J 5 3 S } 9 6 [ A J ] A 6 5 { K Q 8 6 5 4 } A 10


Declarer (South) has to decide whether to play the hand in Diamonds or No-trumps. Well, Game in Diamonds is too risky as there are losers in Spades and Clubs as well as the {A. Of course, South might

settle for a Part-score in Diamonds but that’s wimp-like... Game in No-trumps is possible with the aid of five Diamond tricks and four top tricks in the other suits (a Spade, two Hearts and a Club). To make five Diamond tricks you do need the suit to break 3–2 but that is a fair risk. Against Game in No-trumps West leads the ]4 so declarer wins that with the ]A and

immediately plays a Diamond to the {J and another

Diamond. This knocks out the {A and declarer will

find that he has nine tricks now, scoring 400.


§11. Practice deals. In this final section there are ten deals with various themes. Firstly, let’s list some points that this series of lessons has thrown up. You need to understand:

about counting your points and how that dictates who is declarer and who is dummy.

the scoring method, and that declarer has to study the dummy before making two critical decisions, which are: strain (NT, [, ], {, }) and level (game or Part-score).

That each nomination sets targets for both declarer and for the defenders. There are points of technique in card-play that are important. You need to understand about:

knocking out the opponents’ high cards to set up your own suits.

to play the honours from the short suit first when playing off winning tricks in your own suit.

to keep count of suits to see how they break and to know if small cards are winners by virtue of the fact that they are the only remaining cards in that suit.

that, in general, a defender should lead his longest suit against No-trumps. With a broken suit lead the fourth highest card; with a suit headed by a three-card run lead the top card.

Hands for §11: Practice hands.

Hand 1 Dealer North

[ A 3 ] Q J { A K 7 4 2 } K 7 6 4 [ 8 6 5 2 N [ K Q 7 4 ] A 9 7 5 3

W E ] 6 4 2

{ 10 9 5 { J 8 } 9 S } Q J 10 8 [ J 10 9 ] K 10 8 { Q 6 3 } A 5 3 2


North is declarer and has to make the decisions. Game in Diamonds is not really a possibility as there are certain losers in Spades, Hearts and Clubs, not to mention possible losers in trumps. Game in No-trumps, then? Yes, that might do it. Declarer has top tricks in Spades and Clubs and can develop two tricks in Hearts. If Diamonds break 3–2 then there are five tricks there. This is an acceptable risk so North should nominate Game in No-trumps. East will lead the }Q and North should knock out the ]A.

This sets up tricks in that suit and declarer will find himself making at least ten tricks when Diamonds do break nicely for him. This will score 430 (or thereabouts) to North-South.

Hand 2 Dealer East

[ J 9 ] K J 8 7 { 7 6 5 2 } A 7 5 [ K 5 N [ Q 8 7 6 3 ] A 9 4

W E ] 10 6 2

{ J 10 9 8 { K Q 3 } K Q J 10 S } 9 2 [ A 10 4 2 ] Q 5 3 { A 4 } 8 6 4 3


West is declarer on a marginal hand (marginal in that the points are split 21–19 between North-South and East-West). Now, the best thing to do with this sort of hand (with no decent trump fit) is to nominate No-trumps. There is no chance of making nine tricks on the hand so the nomination should be Part-score in No-trumps. North should lead a Heart (actually the ]7 as it’s his fourth highest of his longest and

strongest) and South should play the ]Q, regardless

of dummy’s card. In time, the defenders will make three Hearts, a Spade, a Diamond and a Club but West should emerge victorious with seven hard earned tricks. That will earn East-West a score of 90 points.



Hand 3 Dealer South

[ K J 2 ] 10 5 2 { K 9 3 } A 7 4 2 [ 6 5 N [ 10 9 8 7 4 ] K 7 3

W E ] A 8 4

{ Q J 7 6 { 10 4 2 } Q 10 8 5 S } J 9 [ A Q 3 ] Q J 9 6 { A 8 5 } K 6 3


South becomes declarer and should see that No-trumps is best as both the North and South hands are balanced. Game or part-score? Well, there are seven top tricks with two more that can be set up in Hearts. That makes nine so South should confidently call Game in No-trumps. West will lead the {6 and

South should immediately go about knocking out the two top Hearts. Winning trick one, therefore, South should play a low Heart to dummy’s ]10. East should

return his partner’s suit by leading another Diamond and South should win that in the dummy to play another Heart. Eventually South will set up his two Heart tricks (and nine in all) for a score of 400 points. East-West will take two Diamonds and two Hearts.

Hand 4 Dealer West

[ 5 4 ] 10 8 5 4 { A K 5 } A 8 4 2 [ 6 3 N [ K Q J 10 9 8 ] K J 7

W E ] A Q 3

{ Q 10 9 2 { J 6 3 } K 6 5 3 S } 7 [ A 7 2 ] 9 6 2 { 8 7 4 } Q J 10 9


East is declarer here. It is obvious to play the hand in Spades but at what level? Well, there are four certain losers in Spades, Diamonds and Clubs so Game is out of the question. No-trumps is not a healthy option either so the only realistic choice is Part-score in Spades. South leads the }Q (which neatly traps

dummy’s }K) and declarer has to rely on tricks in

Spades and Hearts to make his seven tricks. It is possible, with careful play, to make nine tricks but East may be relieved to emerge with eight. Played in a part-score, eight tricks is worth 110 points, nine tricks would be worth 140 points. An over-optimistic nomination Of Game in Spades would just be handing points to North-South.

Hand 5 Dealer North

[ J 7 3 ] J 9 8 { Q J 7 } A K 5 4 [ A Q 4 N [ K 8 6 ] Q 4 2

W E ] A K 7 6 5 3

{ 6 5 3 2 { A 10 8 } Q 7 3 S } 6 [ 10 9 5 2 ] 10 { K 9 4 } J 10 9 8 2


East should play this hand in Hearts – the problem is whether to try for Game or a Part-score. Well, let’s count. There are three Spade tricks and one Diamond available with little chance of making a Club trick. So, declarer needs six Heart tricks to make the necessary Game. Can he be sure of that? Well, not sure exactly but pretty confident. To make six tricks in Hearts requires that the suit breaks 2–2 or 3–1. Only if the suit splits 4–0 will there be a loser in Hearts. That makes the odds very much in favour of trying for a Game. (If you really want to know, the chances of a 4–0 break are 10%, making declarer a 90% favourite to make six Heart tricks and ten in all.) Game in Hearts will notch up 420 points.

Hand 6 Dealer East

[ 5 3 2 ] 7 6 { K J 10 9 7 } A K 4 [ Q J 10 8 N [ 9 7 6 ] K J 4

W E ] Q 8 5 2

{ A 5 3 2 { 6 4 } 10 9 S } Q J 8 3 [ A K 4 ] A 10 9 3 { Q 8 } 7 6 5 2


South becomes declarer and has the usual choices. Well, with no eight-card trump fit it is usually right to play the hand in No-trumps. Now then how many tricks are there? Two in Spades, two in Clubs and one in Hearts. That’s five on top. How about Diamonds? Well, all the Diamonds are equals so all we have to do is to knock out the {A to make four

tricks in that suit. That adds up to nine tricks so South should confidently nominate Game in No-trumps. West will lead the [Q (top of a sequence)

which South should win to lead the {Q (lead the high

cards from the short suit first). That forces out the {A

and declarer can duly make his Game for a score of 400 points.



Hand 7 Dealer South

[ A 6 3 ] 10 8 7 6 { A K 3 } A 5 3 [ 9 7 N [ K Q J 10 4 ] K Q 9

W E ] A 4 3

{ J 10 8 7 2 { 9 6 5 } 10 7 4 S } J 9 [ 8 5 2 ] J 5 2 { Q 4 } K Q 8 6 2


North is the declarer on this deal and he has to decide what to do. Decisions, decisions. Well, he could nominate Part-score in Clubs (Game in Clubs needs eleven tricks, remember and that is out of the question – apart from anything else North must lose three top Hearts). However, North has a balanced hand as does South so how about No-trumps? Well, a part-score is safe enough (there are seven top tricks) but what about a Game? With four top tricks in Diamonds and Spades, Game needs five tricks from Clubs. That will happen if the suit breaks 3–2 and that, it is worth repeating, is a justifiable risk. So, Game in No-trumps it should be and that ought to make nine tricks for a score of 400 points.

Hand 8 Dealer West

[ J 9 ] 5 4 2 { J 9 4 2 } A K Q J [ A 5 N [ K Q 7 6 4 2 ] A K Q

W E ] 10 8 6

{ Q 6 5 3 { K 8 } 10 8 5 2 S } 9 7 [ 10 8 3 ] J 9 7 3 { A 10 7 } 6 4 3


West is declarer and should choose Spades as trumps. Game or part-score, though? Well, let’s look at winners and losers. There are three top losers (two in Clubs and the {A). What about winners?

Well, there are three Heart winners and a trick can be developed in Diamonds. That’s four. How many tricks do we have in Spades? That depends on the split. With a 3–2 break there are six tricks in that suit and that will be enough for ten overall. It is worth the risk of nominating Game in Spades; sure it will be defeated if the Spades were to break 4–1 or 5–0 but the odds are firmly in declarer’s favour. As the cards lie declarer can notch up a score of 420 points by being suitably bold.

Hand 9 Dealer North

[ 9 8 7 2 ] K Q J { 10 7 4 } K Q 10 [ K Q J 10 4 N [ 5 ] A 4 3

W E ] 9 5 2

{ 9 6 5 { Q J 8 2 } J 9 S } 8 7 6 4 2 [ A 6 3 ] 10 8 7 6 { A K 3 } A 5 3


This deal illustrates the principle that most No-trump deals are races. Each side is trying to develop their suits, usually by knocking out the opponents' high cards. Declarer is declarer because his side has the majority of the high cards. The one advantage that the defenders get is that they get to go first. Here, against Game in No-trumps West's leads the [K

(yes, the [10 works just as well but the King is the

orthodox lead from such a sequence). This knocks out South's [A and sets up West's Spade suit.

Declarer needs Heart tricks and therefore knocks out West's ]A - but before South can get at his apparent

nine tricks West grabs five tricks first. Bad luck, South. 50 to East-West.

Hand 10 Dealer East

[ J 10 8 7 2 ] Q 3 2 { 8 7 3 } A 5 [ Q 9 4 N [ A K 5 ] 9 7 4

W E ] A 10

{ A K { J 10 4 2 } Q J 10 9 3 S } K 8 6 2 [ 6 3 ] K J 8 6 5 { Q 9 6 5 } 7 4


This deal is similar to hand 9. East nominates Game in No-trumps because he thinks he can see at least nine tricks. (Three Spades, a Heart, two Diamonds and four Clubs). However, the best laid plans of mice and men... As in many No-trump deals the hand is a race between the two sides. South is trying to get his long suit established and East is trying to get his Clubs set up. Crucially, though, South gets to lead first. A low Heart lead (the ]6) gets North to

contribute the ]Q and the ]A is forced. Now when

North gains the lead with the }A he returns a Heart

("Return your partner's lead") and South cashes out his suit. Was East wrong to try for Game in No-trumps? No, not really. It was a fair shot. C’est la vie.

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